Zuo Zongtang, the important minister of the late Qing Dynasty.

He was the pillar of the feudal dynasty, the national hero of the recovery of Xinjiang, and the promoter of the foreign affairs movement.

During his lifetime, he witnessed the crusade against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Foreign Affairs Movement, the Shaanxi-Gansu Rebellion, the Battle of Xinjiang, and other important events in modern Chinese history.

He and Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, known as the "four great ministers of the late Qing Dynasty"

Just how he never imagined that

A century after his death, he actually became a "netizen" in the United States,

Even if he was born in the late Qing Dynasty, he was still in the United States.

Even outside of Chinatown, people know his name.

- He was a general in China

- He was a famous minister in the late Qing dynasty

But no one knew that

Zuo Zongtang was a national hero and an advanced intellectual.

You can't blame people for being prejudiced, but what made Zuo Zongtang popular was not him as a person,

but a dish - Zuo Zongtang Chicken.

This "Zuo Zongtang chicken" really is,

From "Friends" to the "Big Bang Theory" finished and fire to the recent new U.S. drama "Billions"

Who did not think that a "Chinese dish" can be on fire in the United States.

Who would have thought that a "Chinese dish" could be on fire in the United States for decades,

but this dish, in mainland China, almost no one knows.

A documentary team in the United States spent three years

traveling through mainland China, Taiwan, and the United States,

just to find the roots of "Zuo Zongtang Chicken".

The Search for Zuo Zongtang Chicken

New York, USA.

A global metropolis where dreams and desires are pursued.

Gathering the elite from all over the world, however, just like every person who drifts in the north,

Every day, there are people who fall down or give up in the pursuit of their dreams,

Countless taxes, the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor, and advanced consumerism...

In New York, there are many people who have to pay the taxes, and there are also many people who have to pay the taxes.

In this city of desire,

you can buy a burger for more than $15, or nearly $90,

but here, "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" costs just $10 --

the chicken thighs are cut up and cut to size, and the chicken is served in the same manner as the chicken.

Chicken thighs are diced, battered and deep-fried, topped with broccoli, and served with a bowl of rice.

It's a source of nutrition that sustains everyone who pursues their dreams.

Shanghai, China.

The crew arrived at the market with a picture of "Chicken Zuo Zongtang" in their hands

They were hoping to find a glimpse of "where the food comes from",

but they came up empty-handed.

"It's Hunan food,"

said an aunty in glasses and an apron,

but she didn't know much more than that.

Chinese food is divided into cuisines, and cuisines are divided into regions, which can't be distinguished from a picture.

Hunan, China.

Zuo Zongtang's hometown: Xiangyin, Hunan.

When the crew arrived in this small town, they found the Zuo Zongtang Hotel, Zuo Zongtang Memorial Hall, Zuo Zongtang's former residence, Zuo Zongtang Kindergarten, and Zuo Zongtang Shrine...

Only, can not find Zuo Zongtang chicken.

Americans, don't know.

Zuo Zongtang Chicken does originate from Hunan cuisine, but it was not invented by Zuo Zongtang.

Its inventor is - Peng Changgui.

Peng Changgui was born in 1918.

In 1933, at the age of 15, Peng Changgui entered the family kitchen system of the first President of the Executive Yuan of the National Government, Tan Yan Lo.

Tan Yan Lo to pay attention to food, known as "Tan Chef".

And it was at this time that Peng Changgui worshiped Arthraxon Cao, the chef of the family kitchen system of Tan Yen-Lu, as his teacher.

1952, Taiwan, China.

Liang Xuzhao hosted a banquet for three consecutive days in honor of Arthur Redford, Commander of the Seventh Fleet,

and invited Peng Changgui to be the chef.

After bringing out the best of his skills,

on the third day, in order to allow guests to change their tastes, Peng Changgui fell into a trace of fatigue,

but he quickly chopped the chicken, battered and powdered, fried and then stir-fried chicken dishes,

and named it after Zuo Zongtang's chicken.

Arthur Redford is quite satisfied with this dish,

personally invited Peng Changgui across the ocean to the United States to set up store, this proposal, in the Peng Changgui heart planted the seed.

Soon after, Peng Changgui traveled to New York to open the "Peng Yuan".

Career did not go so smoothly, until the "accident".

I.M. Pei invited Kissinger, the former U.S. Secretary of State, to eat Chinese food, and Kissinger was happy to go.

Unexpectedly, Kissinger became a patron.

After that, for security reasons, every time Kissinger went to "Peng Yuan", the whole restaurant was chartered.

This became a free advertisement for Peng Yuan.

After that, Peng Yuan has always been a gathering place for celebrities from all walks of life,

but it has always kept a distance from the general public.

Well, the world-famous "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" is now available to the general public.

Every chef claims that what they do is authentic

But in fact, what they insist on is not "authentic or not authentic", but the flavor of "connecting with the homeland".

Here, they have it too easy.

Unlike the rich and aristocratic Europeans who immigrated there on their own initiative,

today's three generations of Chinese immigrants are descended from ancestors who were tricked into going there and forced to do so...

In 1848, the twenty-eighth year of Emperor Xuanzong Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty was faltering and the people were in dire straits.

The gold rush spread throughout mainland China.

Those who were forced by life to do nothing had expectations for their lives and responsibilities to their families,

and they set off to San Francisco to look for gold.

On February 2, the first Chinese immigrants arrived in San Francisco with dreams of striking gold.

However, in the real world, how can there be gold everywhere?

The Chinese immigrants who dreamed of gold found themselves cheated when they stepped off the ship.

Some of them were controlled by gangs, some were forced to work as laborers, some were hired, and some became railroad workers...

They were all cheap.

But the hard-working Chinese immigrants,

who came to the big capitalists during a period of declining economic production in the United States, gained the unanimous affirmation,

compared to the white man, who was low-cost and expensive in terms of productivity, that "these Chinese are simply too good a deal."

But many Americans didn't see it that way. They thought "the Chinese are stealing their jobs."

They went into Chinatown and killed, and committed crimes, and looted... and they were all over Chinatown.

The Chinese in Chinatown stood up and fought back by setting up gangs to defend their land,

but the friction continued, and often the Chinese were treated unfairly.

American historians have also commented on this period of history: "They said they were going to deport them, but in fact they were going to kill them."

Interestingly, although the movie has a high score of 8.1 on Douban, only 778 people have marked it as seen and rated it.

One of the netizens said bluntly: Eat shit in all seriousness, crooked Chinese food

There is no denying that the film's shooting and editing itself is not too beautiful, and even in fact, I can vaguely feel that the crew knew the answer,

But when the crew decided to bring the perspective from a dish into the history of the time, doomed the film is heartbreaking.

But when the crew decided to take a dish into history, the movie was destined to be heartbreaking.

Behind American Chinese food is the history of the Chinese people.

They came here, they worked hard, they started from nothing,

and they used their ingenuity to improve their food, all just to be able to live here.

Of course, you can laugh at the many "banana" second-, third-, and fourth-generation immigrants today,

but you can't laugh at the first-generation immigrants who traveled across the ocean and relied on hard work to make a living.

It was they who brought China to the world, and who reached out to help in the most critical period of the war against Japan.

The first-generation immigrants who traveled across the ocean and relied on hard work to make a living are the first to come to the world.

It was they who brought China to the world, and it was they who reached out in time during the most critical period of the war.

No matter where they went, the identity of Chinese people was always fixed on their bodies.

Back to the documentary, The Search for Zuo Zongtang Chicken

Chinatown, USA.

An old man in a suit arrives at the restaurant, a man who has lived in the United States for decades and has a decent job: a tax accountant.

The nature of his job is such that he flies in and out of the United States all the time, and over the years he has eaten at more than 6,000 Chinese restaurants across the country.

The crew asked the old man why he was so persistent.

The old man said in fluent English: seek for identity.

Probably, it is to find a sense of identity.