Emily Carter
General Tso's Chicken, also known as Zuǒ Zōngtáng jī in Mandarin, is a sweet and spicy deep-fried chicken dish. The dish was named after Zuo Zongtang, a Qing dynasty statesman and military leader from Hunan Province. The dish has become a staple of Chinese-American cuisine and has been adapted in different regions, such as Taiwan and Hong Kong. It is typically made with dark-meat chicken pieces that are battered, deep-fried, and seasoned with a variety of ingredients, including ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and chili peppers.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Standard name in Mandarin | 左宗棠雞 Zuǒ Zōngtáng jī |
| Alternative names in Mandarin | 左宗棠鸡 (simplified characters); Chung tong gai (transliteration from Cantonese) |
| General Tso's name in Mandarin | Zuo Zongtang |
| Romanization of General Tso's name | Tso, Zuo, Tsoh, Tseh, Tsoh-ee, Zū Sī, dzoo suh |
| Regional variations | Zhangzhong Chicken (Taiwan), General Tso's Chicken (Hong Kong), Gyū Tso (Japan) |
| Vegetarian and vegan options | Tofu, tempeh, or seitan |
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What You'll Learn
- General Tso's Chicken is named after Zuo Zongtang, a Qing dynasty general
- The dish is known by many alternative names, including General Ching's Chicken, General Gao's Chicken, and Admiral Tso's Chicken
- The standard name in Mandarin is 'Zuǒ Zōngtáng jī'
- The romanization 'Tso' is widely accepted and used in many Chinese-American restaurants
- The dish is a sweet and spicy deep-fried chicken dish that originated in China in the 1950s
General Tso's Chicken is named after Zuo Zongtang, a Qing dynasty general
General Tso's Chicken, or "Zuǒ Zōngtáng jī" (左宗棠雞) in Mandarin, is a sweet and spicy deep-fried chicken dish. The dish was named after Zuo Zongtang (Tso Tsung-t'ang), a Qing dynasty statesman and military leader from Hunan Province. Born in 1812 in Xiangyin county, Hunan province, and dying in 1885, General Tso had a glittering career in the Qing dynasty civil and military administration. He led successful military campaigns against various rebel groups and is best known for recapturing Xinjiang from rebellious Uyghur Muslims.
General Tso's Chicken was invented by Peng Chang-kuei, a chef from Hunan who later moved to New York City. Peng claimed that his restaurant, Uncle Peng's Hunan Yuan, was the first in New York City to serve Tso's chicken in 1973. He made it the house specialty, despite the dish's commonplace ingredients. When he returned to his hometown of Changsha in the 1990s, he introduced Tso's chicken to his restaurant's menu, but the locals found the dish too sweet.
There are two stories about how Peng Chang-kuei created the dish when he worked in Taipei before introducing it to New York. Both stories are linked to the fact that Peng was well-connected to senior Kuomintang politicians in Hunan, Chongqing, and Taiwan. Chef Peng adapted the dish to suit the tastes of Americans, and it has now been widely imitated, with his apprentices helping to spread his style of cooking.
General Tso's Chicken is now listed as a "Chef's Specialty" at many Chinese restaurants in North America, commanding a higher price than other items. However, it is relatively inexpensive to produce, and many restaurants offer vegetarian alternatives or substitute the chicken for shrimp, beef, or pork.
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The dish is known by many alternative names, including General Ching's Chicken, General Gao's Chicken, and Admiral Tso's Chicken
General Tso's Chicken, or 左宗棠雞 Zuǒ Zōngtáng jī in Mandarin, is a sweet and spicy deep-fried chicken dish. The dish is named after Zuo Zongtang (Tso Tsung-t'ang), a Qing dynasty statesman and military leader from Hunan Province. However, there is some debate over whether the dish was actually named after Zuo Zongtang, as the name could be a reference to the homophone zongtang (宗堂), meaning "the hall of ancestors".
General Tso's Chicken is known by many alternative names, with most variations simply replacing 'Tso' with a different surname. These include General Ching's Chicken, General Gao's Chicken, General Mao's Chicken, General Tong's Chicken, and Admiral Tso's Chicken. The dish was likely invented by Chinese chef Peng Chang-kuei in the 1950s, although another chef, T.T. Wang, also claimed to have invented it. The recipe introduced by Wang was likely the version where the chicken is crispy fried and was served under the name "General Ching's Chicken".
General Tso's Chicken is especially popular in North America, where it is often listed as a "Chef's Specialty" and commands a higher price than other items. However, it is relatively unknown in Hunan, the province it is named after. When Chef Peng Chang-kuei introduced the dish to Hunan in the 1990s, locals found it too sweet, and his restaurant quickly closed.
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The standard name in Mandarin is 'Zuǒ Zōngtáng jī'
The standard name in Mandarin for General Tso's chicken is 'Zuǒ Zōngtáng jī' (左宗棠雞). This is a transliteration of the dish's name from Mandarin. The dish is named after Zuo Zongtang (左宗棠), a Qing dynasty statesman and military leader from Hunan province.
There are several alternative names for the dish, including 'General Ching's chicken', 'General Jong's Chicken', 'General Sauce Chicken', 'House Chicken', 'Admiral Tso's chicken', and 'General's Chicken'. The name 'General Tso's Chicken' is the most popular version among a dozen or so variants.
The dish is believed to have been created by a Chinese immigrant chef named T. T. Wang in 1972. Wang introduced the dish at New York's Shun Lee Palaces, located at East 44th Street. The restaurant claims to have been the first Hunanese restaurant in the country, and the first to serve General Tso's chicken. However, another chef, Peng Chang-kuei, also claimed to have invented the dish around 1973 when he opened his restaurant, Uncle Peng's Hunan Yuan, on East 44th Street in New York City.
General Tso's chicken consists of dark meat chicken pieces that are battered, deep-fried, and seasoned with ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, Shaoxing wine or sherry, sugar, sesame oil, scallions, and hot chili peppers. It is often served with steamed broccoli.
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The romanization 'Tso' is widely accepted and used in many Chinese-American restaurants
The dish "General Tso's Chicken" is named after Zuo Zongtang, a Qing dynasty general and statesman from Hunan province. The dish is a sweet and spicy deep-fried chicken dish that has become a staple of Chinese-American cuisine. It is believed to have been created by a Chinese immigrant chef named T. T. Wang in 1972, though another chef, Peng Chang-kuei, also claimed to have invented it around 1973.
The romanization "Tso" is widely accepted and used in many Chinese-American restaurants, cookbooks, and culinary contexts, despite being an older transliteration system. The Mandarin Pinyin system, the official romanization for Mandarin Chinese in mainland China, renders the same character as "Zuo." This is considered more accurate and is the standard today, but "Tso" persists due to its familiarity and ease of use for non-Chinese speakers.
The character "左" (Zuo) in Mandarin means "left" or "the left side," and General Zuo Zongtang's surname is written with this character. This is an example of homophones in Chinese, where tones are essential. The correct pronunciation of "Zuo" is a combination of a light "d" sound, the 'ow' sound in "cow," and a slight curl of the tongue, resulting in a unique resonance.
The different romanizations lead to variations in pronunciation, with some saying "Tsoh" (ZOH), "Tso" (TSOH), "Tseh" (TSEH), or even "Tsoh-ee" (ZO-ee). However, the correct pronunciation of General Tso, according to the Mandarin Pinyin system, is "dzoo suh" or "zu si."
The dish has also spawned several variations, such as Zhangzhong Chicken in Taiwan and General Tso's Chicken in Hong Kong. It has been modified to suit different cultural tastes, such as in Japan, where it is known as "Gyū Tso" and served with rice and vegetables.
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The dish is a sweet and spicy deep-fried chicken dish that originated in China in the 1950s
General Tso's Chicken, or 左宗棠雞 (Zuǒ Zōngtáng jī) in Mandarin, is a sweet and spicy deep-fried chicken dish that was created in the 1950s. It was invented by Peng Chang-kuei, a chef from Hunan Province, and was first served at a banquet for Admiral Arthur W. Radford during his visit to Taiwan in 1953. The dish was originally created as an improvised meal when Chef Peng ran out of ingredients while serving Chiang Ching-kuo, the son of President Chiang Kai-shek.
General Tso's Chicken is named after Zuo Zongtang, a Qing dynasty statesman and military leader from Hunan Province who lived from 1812 to 1885. Chef Eileen Yin-Fei Lo speculates that the dish's name may be a reference to the homophone "zongtang," meaning "the hall of the ancestors," rather than the general himself.
The dish is made with pieces of dark meat chicken that are battered, deep-fried, and seasoned with a variety of ingredients, including ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, and chilli peppers. It is often served with steamed broccoli. While it is not an authentic Hunanese dish, it has become a staple of Chinese-American cuisine and can be found on menus across the world, especially in the eastern United States.
General Tso's Chicken has many alternative names, including Governor Tso's Chicken, General Tao's Chicken, General Gao's Chicken, and General Tsao's Chicken, among others. The dish has also inspired variations such as General Tso's Tofu and General Tso's Veg, as well as substitutions for the chicken with shrimp, beef, or pork.
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Frequently asked questions
General Tso Chicken is known as 左宗棠雞 (Zuǒ Zōngtáng jī) in Mandarin.
The correct pronunciation is "dzoo suh", but the romanization "Tso" is widely accepted and used in many Chinese-American restaurants and cookbooks.
'Zuǒ Zōngtáng jī' translates to "chicken à la Zuo Zongtang" or "Zuo Zongtang's chicken" in English.
Zuo Zongtang, also known as Tso Tsung-t'ang, was a Qing dynasty statesman and military leader from Hunan Province.
Yes, there are two main variants of the name for this dish in Mandarin: 左宗棠雞 (traditional characters) and 左宗棠鸡 (simplified characters).
