I always pronounce it Tau, rhymes with ‘how’. Is this correct? And who the heck was he anyway? Or is it just a Chinese-American invention for us goofy Americans to ponder (like mystical ‘fortune’ cookies)…
So.
No no… you’re both waaayyy off. It’s pronounced “jen-er-uhl”
huh? wha?? :dubious:
BUCK-ba-KAK!
How else would his chicken pronounce his name?
I always heard (or maybe read) the “Ts” sound was like that of tsetse flies, followed by the “o.”
I’ve always heard it pronounced as “so.”
And here’s the SD Staff Report on the origin of the name of the dish.
I suspect it would depend on which dialect you speak.
How do you pronounce Eisenhower? Is it AAH-zen-HOW-uh or Eye-zen-how-er?
Ya know, for all the years I studied Chinese, I’ve never bothered to even think about this.
The word “tso” can also be romanized as “zuo.” The “uo” is kind of a difficult sound to make using English pronunciation. My best shot would be to say that it would be like, “zoh-wah” as a single syllable, but the “wah” part is pronounced very, very lightly, almost imperceptably to most unattuned ears.
“So” with a little more of a “z” sound is perfectly acceptable. “Tau” isn’t in the ballpark.
That’s how I pronounce it. Like “fatso” without the “fa”.
I told this story here a few years ago, but I think Hamsters like General Tso, too.
Place: My local Happy Lucky Golden Dragon Restaurant. I have just ordered General Tso take-out.
Eve: “So, who was this General Tso, anyway?”
Cashier: “What?”
Eve [already regretting asking]: “Umm, I eat his chicken a lot, so I was just wondering, who is General Tso?”
Cashier [looking at receipt]: “He Eve Golden.”
Eve: “No, no. Not who ordered it–who was he?”
Cashier: “He chicken in spicy sauce.”
Eve: “Umm, never mind . . .”
[Cashier calls manager]
Manager: “Is something wrong?”
Eve: “No . . . I was just ordering some General Tso’s chicken, and I was wondering if anyone knew who he was.”
Manager: “Oh, I dunno. He some Chinese guy.”
Eve, sometimes your life souonds like an episode of Seinfeld–only funny.
He was a general who helped to crush the Taiping rebellion. Here’s a Washington Post article on him:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A59302-2002Apr16?language=printer
Here’s the link to Veg’s SD column on who he was and a bit about his chicken.
Precisely! What a great way of explaining it. Thanks.
Okay, now for another question:
Why is it also known as General Gao’s Chicken (at least where I’m from) ?
The website that says it was “invented” in the early 70’s in NYC is probably correct.
Barry Popik, who is the resident word sleuth on all things food over at the American Dialect Society can only find cites from the 1970’s(so far). About the same time, the dishes “Gen. Chang’s Chicken” and Gen. Gau’s Chicken" appeared. All in the 1970’s. Usually on NYC menus.
The Boston Comic News (now sadly defunct – sniff!) once carried a cartoon showing a Chinese General in clothes that would have been appropriate a few centuries back, standing in an aggressive pose in the lobby of a Chinese restaurant, brandishing a flamboyant and wicked-looking spear. The caption read:" General Tso wants his chicken back".
I loved it. Although, judging from the cited Staff report, they were evidently a few centuries off in the costume.
i had never heard of ‘general tso’, but reading this thread you think it has anything to do with colonel sanders?
In the spirit of Eve’s anecdote, my (very Republican) boyfriend always researches the backgrounds of Chinese food generals before he will order their dish, so that he doesn’t end up accidentally supporting a Communist military leader by eating food named after him. Or something.
Is General Gau’s really the same as General Tso’s? I must admit I’ve never seen them both on the menu at the same place. I order Gau’s all the time but have not tried anything going under the name of Tso.
I just want to know who this Almond Boneless guy is.
My wife eats his chicken all the time.