Zuo Zongtang, an important minister of Wanqing.

He was the pillar of the feudal dynasty, the national hero who regained Xinjiang, and the promoter of the Westernization Movement.

Throughout his life, he experienced important events in modern Chinese history such as the Taiping Rebellion, the Westernization Movement, the Shaanxi-Gansu Revolution, and the Battle of Xinjiang.

Together with Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Zhang Zhidong, he was known as the "Four Famous Officials of the Late Qing Dynasty"

However, what he never expected was that,

A hundred years after his death, he actually became an "Internet celebrity" in the United States.

Even outside Chinatown, people all know his name.

——He is a general in China

——He is a famous official in the Wan Qing Dynasty

But no one knows,

This cannot be blamed on people's prejudice, but it is not him who made Zuo Zongtang famous.

It was a dish - General Tso's Chicken.

This "General Tso's Chicken" is really,

From "Friends" to "The Big Bang Theory", it has become popular in the recent new American drama "Billions"

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No one would have thought that a "Chinese dish" could be popular in the United States for decades.

But almost no one in mainland China knows about this dish.

There is a documentary team in the United States, which spent three years,

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

just for the sake of Looking for the root of "General Tso's Chicken".

——"Exploring "General Tso's Chicken""

New York, USA.

A global metropolis, a place where dreams and desires are pursued.

It brings together elites from all over the world, but just like everyone who drifts to the north,

Every day, passers-by who are chasing their dreams fall or give up,

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

In this city full of desires,

You need to buy a hamburger It costs more than 15 US dollars, which is equivalent to nearly 90 RMB.

However, here "General Tso's Chicken" only costs 10 US dollars -

The chicken legs are cut into cubes, breaded in flour, deep-fried, and placed Serve broccoli and a bowl of rice,

It is the source of "nutrition" for everyone who pursues their dreams.

China, Shanghai.

The film crew came to the vegetable market with pictures of "General Tso's Chicken" in their hands.

They hoped to find some news about "the source of food",

However, they found nothing.

"This is Hunan food"

A vegetable seller wearing glasses and an apron said,

But for more news, the aunt is not very clear.

Chinese food is divided into cuisines, and cuisines are divided into regions. It is impossible to tell the difference with just one picture.

China, Hunan.

Zuo Zongtang’s hometown: Xiangyin, Hunan.

The film crew came to this small town and found Zuo Zongtang Hotel, Zuo Zongtang Memorial Hall, Zuo Zongtang’s former residence, Zuo Zongtang Kindergarten, Zuo Zongtang Ancestral Hall... < /p>

Only, General Tso’s Chicken is nowhere to be found.

Americans, I don’t know.

General Tso’s chicken does originate from Hunan cuisine, but it was not invented by Tso.

Its inventor is Peng Changgui.

Peng Changgui, born in 1918.

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

Tan Yankai pays attention to gourmet food and is known as "Tan Chef".

At this time, Peng Changgui became a disciple of Cao Xinchen, the chef of Tan Yankai’s home kitchen system at that time.

1952, Taiwan, China.

Liang Xuzhao hosted a banquet for three consecutive days in order to receive Arthur Redford, the commander of the Seventh Fleet at the time, and invited Peng Changgui to cook.

After putting all his housekeeping skills into practice,

On the third day, in order to give the guests a change of taste, Peng Changgui fell into a bit of exhaustion,

But He quickly cut the chicken into pieces, battered it with flour, fried it first and then stir-fried it, and named it after General Tso's Chicken.

Arthur Redford was quite satisfied with this dish.

He personally invited Peng Changgui to cross the ocean to open a store in the United States. This suggestion planted a seed in Peng Changgui's heart. .

Soon after, Peng Changgui went to New York to open "Peng Garden".

My career was not going so smoothly until I encountered an "accident".

One time, I.M. Pei invited former US Secretary of State Kissinger to eat Chinese food, and Kissinger happily attended the dinner.

Unexpectedly, Kissinger became a patron this time.

After that, for safety reasons, Kissinger booked the entire restaurant every time he went to "Peng Yuan".

This has become free advertising for Peng Yuan.

Since then, "Pengyuan" has always been a gathering place for celebrities from all walks of life.

However, because of this, it has always maintained a certain distance from the general public.

Fortunately, the world-famous "General Tso's Chicken" has become available to the public.

Every chef claims that what they cook is authentic

But in fact, what they insist on is not "authentic or unauthentic", but the taste of "connection with the hometown".

Here they are too easy.

Unlike those European rich and nobles who took the initiative to immigrate to the past,

Today’s three generations of Chinese immigrant descendants, their ancestors were deceived and forced to come... < /p>

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

The gold rush spread throughout mainland China.

Those who were forced by life had no choice but to hold on to their expectations for life and their responsibilities to their families.

They set out for San Francisco to pan for gold.

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

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

The Chinese immigrants who dreamed of gold mining found themselves deceived as soon as they got off the ship.

Some of them were controlled by gangs, some became coolies, some were hired, and some The ones who became railroad workers...

They were all cheap.

But the hard-working Chinese immigrants,

during the period of decline of economic production in the United States, received unanimous recognition from the big capitalists who came to the United States,

Compared with production efficiency Low-cost and expensive white people, "these Chinese are such a bargain"

But many Americans don't think so. They think that "the Chinese have taken away their jobs"

They ran into Chinatown, killing, committing crimes, and robbing...

The Chinese in Chinatown stood up and fought back, forming gangs to guard the land and water.

But the friction remained. Continuously, Chinese people are often treated unfairly.

American historians also commented on this period of history: "They said they wanted to expel them, but actually they wanted to kill them."

Interestingly, this video is on Douban Although it has a high score of 8.1, only 778 people have marked it and rated it.

Some netizens said bluntly: Eating shit seriously, crooked Chinese food

It is undeniable that the filming and editing of the film itself are not very beautiful, and you can even vaguely feel that the film crew has already We know the answer,

But when the film crew decided to change the perspective from a dish into history, the film was destined to be sad.

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

They came here, relying on hard work, starting from scratch,

using their wisdom to improve their diet, all just to survive here.

Of course you can laugh at the fact that there are many second-, third- and fourth-generation immigrants today.

But you can’t laugh at the first-generation immigrants who crossed the ocean and made a fortune through hard work. Our ancestors,

it was they who brought China to the world, and it was they who extended a helping hand in time during the most critical period of the Anti-Japanese War.

No matter where they go, the Chinese identity will always be fixed on them.

Back to the documentary - "Exploring "General Tso's Chicken""

America, Chinatown.

An old man in a suit and tie came to the restaurant. He had lived in the United States for decades and had a decent job as a tax accountant.

Due to the nature of his work, he flies around the United States all year round. Over the years, he has eaten in more than 6,000 Chinese restaurants in the United States.

The film 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.