November 10

Tso Tsungtang's Birthday

General Tso Tsungtang was a major military leader during China's greatest civil war, the 14-year-long Taiping Rebellion from 1850 to 1864 which claimed millions of lives. The Taiping Rebellion was the greatest upheaval in 19th century China. It caused massive displacements and shifts in population. Hundreds of thousands of people fled or emigrated, many to America, where they worked building the transcontinental railroad, which was completed in 1869.

Tsomashed the Taiping rebels in four provinces, put down an unrelated revolt called the Nian Rebellion, then marched west and reconquered Chinese Turkestan from Muslim rebels. Tso was allegedly the model for Flash Gordon's "Ming, the Merciless," possibly because of his execution of rebellion leaders with the proverbial "death of 10,000 cuts."

Tso began his military career as an adjutant and secretary for the governor of Hunan province. He raised a force of 5,000 volunteers and took the field in September 1860, driving the Taiping rebels out of Hunan and Guangxi provincesinto coastal Zhejiang. There he captured the big cities of Shaoxing. From there he pushed south into Fujian and Guangdong provinces, where the revolt had first begun and spread, and had crushed the Taipings by the time the rebellion ended in 1864. In 1884, upon the outbreak of the Sino-French War, Tso received a commission as commander-in-chief and Imperial Commissioner of the Army and Inspector General overseeing coastal defense in Fujian. He died shortly after a truce was signed in 1885.

In the United States and Canada, Tso is primarily remembered with the eponymous sweet and spicy deep-fried Hunan Chinese dish that recalls Tso's slice and dice executions. There are several explanations for the origin of the recipe. On "The Definitive General Tso's Chicken Page," Eric Hochman asserts that it was invented in the mid-1970s, in NYC, by Chef Peng in 1974 of Peng's on East 44th Street where it was a House Specialty.

General Tso's Chicken

Basic Ingredients

Sauce Ingredients

1lb boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into 1” chunks)
5 dried red chili peppers
3 green onions (sliced)
3 eggs (beaten)
1/2 cup cornstarch
oil (for frying)

3 TB rice vinegar
3 TB rice wine
4 TB sugar
1 tsp ginger root, peeled & minced
4 TB soy sauce
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 green onions (for garnish)

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl combine cornstarch and beaten eggs. Mix well to create a batter. Add chicken chunks and coat thoroughly
In a small bowl combine rice vinegar, rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, ginger root, and cornstarch. Mix well and set aside.
Heat deep fryer or wok to 375 º F. and deep fried chicken chunks in batches. Drain on paper towels.
Add 1-2 TB of oil to the wok. Add dried chili peppers to your wok and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add chicken chunks to the wok and stir fry for a couple minutes.
Add sauce mixture to the wok and cook stirring until the sauce becomes thickened and bubbly. Remove to plates and garnish with chopped green onions.

Serves 2