The founder of Kung Pao Chicken is Ding Kung Pao. "Kung Pao" is not a name, but an official name given by the emperor after Ding Baozhen's death. Ding Baozhen (1820 ~1886), born in Niuchang Town, Pingyuan Prefecture, Guizhou Province (present-day zhijin county), was a scholar in the Xianfeng period of Qing Dynasty. He served as the magistrate of Yuezhou and Changsha, and was later promoted to the governor of Shandong and the governor of Sichuan. He has been in power for more than 20 years, and he has made great achievements and is famous in history. Become another famous minister in Guizhou in the late Qing Dynasty.
He is most praised by China people for killing An Dehai, the great eunuch favored by Empress Dowager Cixi, in the eighth year of Tongzhi (1869) when he was the governor of Shandong Province, which showed great wisdom and courage, and the world was all happy. This incident was also compiled into a script by later generations, "Ding Wencheng Eliminating Rape", which was praised. After the death of Ding Baozhen, posthumous title was "sincere" and was later awarded the title of Prince Taibao by the emperor of the dynasty. The title of Prince Taibao is called "Gong Bao" by the people.
Food anecdotes about kung pao chicken.
Kung pao chicken was created by Ding Baozhen, Governor of Shandong and Governor of Sichuan in Qing Dynasty. He has a good knowledge of cooking, likes to eat chicken and peanuts, and especially likes spicy food. When he was an official in Shandong, he ordered his chef to change the Shandong dish "Fried Chicken with Sauce" into spicy stir-frying. Later, when he was governor of Sichuan, he popularized this dish and created a delicious dish made by frying chicken, red pepper and peanuts in a pan.
This delicious dish was originally Ding's private kitchen, but it became well-known as kung pao chicken. The so-called "Gong Bao" is actually the honorary title of Ding Baozhen. Ding Baozhen ruled Shu for ten years and made many achievements. He died in the eleventh year of Guangxu. In recognition of his achievements, the Qing court posthumously awarded the "Prince Taibao".
"Prince Taibao" is one of the "palace treasures", so in memory of Ding Baozhen, he invented this dish named "kung pao chicken". Because this dish is so widely spread, there are many different practices in various places, and there is even a "Kung Pao Diced Meat" that turns diced chicken into diced meat. After kung pao chicken spread to the west, westerners also made some improvements according to their own tastes, making it a "western-style kung pao chicken" that conforms to western tastes.
The above contents refer to Baidu Encyclopedia-kung pao chicken.