Dongan Chicken is my most anticipated dish.

Why? Because Dong'an chicken is a specialty here, and even across the country, it is a national banquet dish. You must taste its deliciousness if you have the opportunity, it is a strong benefit!

Let’s first learn about its origin:

“Dongan Chicken” is a famous traditional dish in Hunan. It ranks first among the eight major Hunan dishes and was selected into the list of the four traditional Hunan dishes at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. . The first choice for Yongzhou people’s traditional family banquet.

"Dongan Chicken" was originally called "Vinegar Chicken". It is said that in the first year of Yongxi (AD 290), Emperor Hui of the Western Jin Dynasty, Yingyang County was established in Luhong City on the shore of Yingshui. The then county magistrate hung a plaque for the county government, held a grand celebration ceremony, and summoned the gentry from all townships to the big houses. Come to congratulate, invite local famous chefs to cook and hold a grand banquet. According to the custom at that time, the fifth course of a formal banquet was chicken, called "Chicken Kaikai". The "Chicken Kaikai" tasted a bit sour at that time, which whetted the appetite of the diners. After the dinner was over, the magistrate called the chef and asked him how he came up with the idea of ??adding vinegar to the chicken. The chef hurriedly knelt on the ground and said, "My lord, please forgive me! I didn't mean it. I was in a hurry and mistakenly put vinegar in for wine. Inadvertently, in order to remove the sour taste, I immediately added some peppercorns and ginger. If you don't do this next time, please ask the county magistrate." "Excuse me!" The county magistrate laughed and said happily: "Excuse me! Come on, everyone said that the chicken with vinegar is delicious! I called you here to reward you!" Actually created a famous dish. Since then, the practice of "vinegar chicken" has spread locally.

Dongan’s “vinegar chicken” became famous thanks to Xi Baotian, a famous Hunan general from Yongzhou in the late Qing Dynasty. Therefore, "Dongan Vinegar Chicken" was interpreted as "Kung Pao Chicken", making "Kung Pao Chicken" famous. It was the famous Hunan general Tang Shengzhi (1889-1970, a native of Dong'an County, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province) who really made "Dongan Vinegar Chicken" famous throughout the country. He once held important positions in the Kuomintang and was awarded the rank of first-class army general. The founding of New China Later he served as deputy governor of Hunan Province). During the Northern Expedition, he served as the former enemy commander-in-chief of the Northern Lord Army and the commander of the Eighth Army. In order to celebrate the victory of the Northern Expedition, he hosted a banquet for his subordinates and colleagues at Quyuan Restaurant in Nanjing. During the banquet, he served "jealous chicken". His personal chef is from Dong'an and is very particular about his cooking skills. First of all, the chicken selected must be a hen that has never laid eggs, weighing about 2 pounds; secondly, the fire power during cooking must be just right to keep the blood in the chicken bones bright red; finally, the knife skills must be exquisite, except for the internal organs of a chicken, Cut the chicken into 16 pieces, 8 large and 8 small, and place it on the plate, just like a complete chicken. After the subordinates and colleagues ate it, they all said that the dish was beautiful in appearance, bright in color, fragrant, tender in texture, spicy and sour in taste, and it had six flavors: fragrant, sweet, sour, spicy, tender and crispy. Asked what the name of this dish was, Tang Shengzhi was about to speak, but Gu Boxu (Tang Shengzhi’s Gao Ginseng) who was standing by reminded him: "Hometown-flavored home-town food." Tang Shengzhi continued: "This is our Dong'an specialty dish, called 'Dongan Chicken'." Tang Shengzhi is a well-known person and often serves "Dongan Chicken" as a dinner dish when entertaining guests. Guo Moruo's "Hong Bo Ji" also records: During the Anti-Japanese War, Tang Shengzhi hosted a banquet for him at his mansion in Shuiluzhou, Changsha. Among them, Dong'an chicken tasted particularly good. In February 1972, during US President Nixon's visit to China, Mao Zedong hosted a banquet for Nixon and served him "Dongan Chicken". Nixon praised it while eating it. After returning home, he also praised the "Dongan Chicken" for its excellent taste. Since then, Dong'an chicken has become even more famous. As the leader of Hunan cuisine, it has also been introduced to Southeast Asia, Japan, North America and other countries, and its reputation has truly spread all over the world.

At this point, Dong'an chicken has become a state banquet dish.

As a local, I have been eating this dish since I was a snack. I didn’t expect its origin to be so interesting. I didn’t expect that its name would also be included in the state banquet. But when I think about it carefully, I feel that this is also the case, and it should be so. The cooking method of Dong'an chicken here is basically the same, but not too uniform. The seasonings and frying methods are roughly the same. It can be said that the fried appearance is very different, but in terms of taste, everyone's fried texture is different.

So, every time I go to other people’s homes to pay New Year greetings, I look forward to the Dong’an chicken they make, because the taste is different in every household. It’s so magical. I like this familiar and yet familiar chicken. Strange feeling.