Dong 'an Chicken experienced three dynasties from birth to fame.
In the Western Jin Dynasty, it was called "mature vinegar chicken". Western Jin dynasty; In the first year of Yongxi in Hui Di (290), a county named Yang Ying County was built on the bank of Shui Ying. At that time, the county magistrate hung a plaque for the county government, held a grand celebration ceremony, called the old people in each village to congratulate them, and invited local famous chefs to give a big banquet. According to the custom at that time, the fifth course of the formal banquet was chicken, which was called "opening chicken". That time, the "chicken mouth" tasted a little sour, which opened the appetite of diners. After the banquet, the county magistrate called the chef and asked him how he came up with the idea of adding vinegar to the chicken. The cook knelt on the ground and said, "my Lord, forgive me!" I didn't mean to. At that time, I used my quick wits and mistook mature vinegar for cooking wine. But in order to get rid of the vinegar, I immediately added some pepper and ginger. It won't happen again, please forgive the magistrate! " The magistrate laughed and said happily, "forgive me for what I have done!" Get up! Get up! Everyone says vinegar chicken is delicious! I called you here to reward you! " Who knows that a coincidence has created a famous dish. Since then, the practice of "aged vinegar chicken" has spread among the people.
It was called "official chicken" in the late Qing Dynasty. At the end of Qing Dynasty, Xi Baotian, the general of Xiang Army, made great contributions to the suppression of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Guizhou Miao Uprising. The Qing court appointed Xi Baotian as Dr. Guanglu and named him "Prince Shao Bao", which was highly valued by the court. Xi Baotian died in his later years and lived in Wujiaqiao. On one occasion, Zeng Guofan, Zuo and Liu Kunyi waited for Baotianjia to be a guest, and this "aged chicken" was served at the banquet. In order to increase the flavor, the chef added some aged milk tofu to the "aged vinegar chicken", which was not only sour and delicious, but also crispy and delicious. Zeng Guofan and others ate it and were full of praise. When Zuo asked about the name of the dish, Bao Tian wanted to say "old vinegar chicken", but he felt that the name was too corny to say clearly. Zeng Guofan interrupted: "This is a specialty of Xi Guanbao Jia, so it is called' Guan Bao Chicken'!" Zuo and Liu Kunyi echoed and said, "Yes! Famous dishes, official chicken, good name! " Since then, this dish has spread to the court.
In the Republic of China, it was called "Dong 'an Chicken". 1926 During the First Northern Expedition, Tang Shengzhi, a famous patriotic general of China Kuomintang, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy of the Northern Expedition. After the victory of the Northern Expedition, Tang Shengzhi settled in Nanjing. In order to celebrate the victory of the Northern Expedition, he hosted a banquet in Nanjing to entertain his subordinates and colleagues, and also presented an "official chicken" between the banquets. His personal chef is from Wujiaqiao, and he is more particular about cooking. The first chicken selected must be a hen that has never laid eggs and weighs no more than one and a half Jin; When making, the firepower is just right to keep the blood in the chicken bones bright red; If you cut it with a knife, a chicken will be cut into sixteen pieces except the internal organs and put on a plate, which happens to be a complete chicken. After eating it, subordinates and colleagues all said that this dish is beautiful in appearance, bright in color, fresh and tender in meat, sour and refreshing, fat but not greasy, delicious, full of fragrance, rich in nutrition, fragrant, sweet, sour, spicy, tender and crisp. Tang Shengzhi asked what the dish was called and was about to speak when Gu reminded him, "Hometown flavor." Tang Shengzhi immediately said, "This is our Dong 'an specialty, called Dong 'an Chicken. "Tang Shengzhi has extensive diplomacy, and its guests often take Dong 'an Chicken as a feast. Guo Moruo's "Humber" also records that during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, Tang Shengzhi hosted a banquet for him in the mansion of Changsha Land and Water State, among which Dong 'an Chicken was especially delicious. 1972 In February, during the US President's visit to China, Mao Zedong hosted a banquet in honor of Nixon, during which Dong 'an Chicken was served. Nixon boasted while eating, and after returning home, he also praised Dong 'an chicken for its excellent taste. It was soon introduced to Southeast Asia, North America, Jordan, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore and other countries. Since then, Dong 'an Chicken has been listed as a national banquet dish, ranking first among the eight famous dishes in Hunan cuisine.