Peng Chang-kuei’s Chicken

General Tso had nothing to do with the famous Chinese meal named in his honor. There’s a rather interesting history of the dish published here if you have the curiosity. The creator is still alive and rather miffed with what’s become of his creation:

I was raised on Cantonese home cooking, and didn’t see my first white cardboard box of General Tso’s chicken until I was in college, ordering sleazy Chinese takeout like everyone else. But a couple of years ago my great uncle told me a story of growing up in Guangzhou, diving for cover when the Nationalists blasted their way through the city, shelling the place with artillery as they beat their retreat to Taiwan. And now, every time I eat the general’s chicken, I imagine chef Peng riding shotgun, his hands over his ears, dreaming of a time he could cook again, when the bombs stop bursting in air.