General Tso's chicken
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General Tso's chicken (左公鸡, Zuǒ gōng jī; or 左宗棠鸡, Zuǒ Zōng Táng jī in Chinese) is a sweet and spicy dish that is popularly served in American Chinese restaurants. The dish is unknown in China and indeed other lands home to the Chinese diaspora. It commonly consists of dark-meat tidbits of chicken, deep-fried then seasoned with ginger, garlic, sesame oil, scallions, and hot chili peppers, and often served with steamed broccoli. Tomato ketchup is sometimes included as part of the recipe. Though relatively inexpensive to produce, General Tso's chicken is often listed as a "Chef's Specialty" at Chinese restaurants in North America, commanding a higher price than other items. Often, more gourmet Chinese restaurants will either not make this dish at all, or will make it with white meat rather than dark meat because white meat is considered better in gourmet American cooking, whereas dark meat is considered better in Asian cooking. Many restaurants, especially in areas with many vegetarians, also serve General Tso's Tofu, which many non-vegetarians also prefer to the tough and fatty dark meat of the chicken typically used in General Tso's Chicken.
It is unclear how the dish came to bear the name of the 19th-century Chinese war hero General Zuo Zongtang (左宗棠, 1812-1885). Zuo himself is unlikely ever to have tasted the dish. Also, there are contradictory accounts as to the origin of the dish. The author of the book Chinese Kitchen, Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, states that the dish has Hunan origins (this speculation may have been because of the prevalence of hot and spicy flavors in Hunan cuisine). Other sources credit the origin of the dish to New York City's Chinatown in the 1970s.
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Regional naming
The dish is typically called "General Gau's chicken" in the Boston, Massachusetts area. In parts of Canada, this dish is known as General Tao's, and less commonly, General George's chicken. In other regions and restaurants, it is also known as General Tsao's, General Zhou's, General Gao's, General Chou's, and General Tzo's. It is also known as General Chow's prominently in the New Jersey area and simply, General Chicken in parts of Northern Califonia.
Pronunciation
The "Tso" in General Tso is sometimes misspelled "Cho" in English, probably due to influence from Cantonese. The correct pronunciation in Mandarin is "tswo".