On March 9, 216, in order to solve the mystery of "Zuo Zongtang Chicken", the author went to Pengyuan Club in Xindian District, New Taipei City, Taiwan Province, and asked my old friend Xiao Peng (Peng Tiecheng) about the origin of "Zuo Zongtang Chicken". He told the author categorically that it was developed and created by his father Peng Changgui himself.
He said that in 1976, Ma Ying-jeou, an overseas student, and his wife Zhou Meiqing held a wedding banquet at Pengyuan Restaurant in new york. The chef Peng Changgui never imagined that the handsome and chubby young man would become the leader of Taiwan Province in 32 years. Beautiful and elegant, a little girl who looks a bit like the British star Audrey Hepburn has also become the "first lady" in Taiwan Province. At that time, although there were only three or four tables in their wedding banquet, there was a famous Hunan dish "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" in the wedding banquet.
"Zuo Zongtang Chicken" is famous because it was a famous Chinese restaurant dish that Mr. Jiang Jingguo, US Secretary of State Heinz A. Kissinger, President George H.W. Bush and early Taiwan Province students had to order, which also made this famous Hunan soldier Zuo Zongtang famous in the 2th century.
in p>23, Fuchsia Dunlop, the host of British BBC TV station, visited Hunan for half a year to collect the menus of restaurants, but she was surprised to find that no one there had heard of this dish, let alone served it in restaurants. Li Jing, a reporter from The New York Times, also went to Hunan to trace the origin of this dish, and also found that no one there had heard of "Zuo Zongtang Chicken". Where did this famous China delicacy come from? Curious, puzzled foreigners!
There are different opinions about who invented "Zuo Zongtang Chicken". In order to solve this puzzle, Ian Cheney, an American documentary director, spent three years traveling all over the United States, looking for famous Chinese chefs, and even crossing the Pacific Ocean to visit major restaurants such as Shanghai and Hunan, but he couldn't solve the mystery of "Zuo Zongtang Chicken". Finally, he found out that it was originally written by Peng Changgui, a famous chef in Taiwan Province, and specially produced a documentary "Search for General Tsao" for this purpose, and in June 215.
(Zuo Zongtang)
Peng Changgui, the inventor of this dish, admired General Zuo Zongtang, a famous Hunan soldier in the Qing Dynasty, and Peng Changgui was a native of Hunan, and he cooked Hunan food, so he named this special dish "Zuo Zongtang Chicken", which can also be said to show respect to the sages of Hunan. Some mainland media ignored it and thought that "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" or "Left Rooster" was a cooking dish that Zuo Zongtang liked to eat. Every time Zuo Zongtang went home, Mrs. Zuo Zongtang knew that he liked this chicken and would cook it for him and his soldiers, hence the name. This statement may be possible, but it is by no means Peng Changgui's "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" cooking method.
Taiwanese cuisine and Taiwan Province snacks have unique styles. Taiwan Province people have created their own unique Taiwan Province cuisines and various Taiwan Province snacks by combining elements such as old Fujian cuisine (Fujian cuisine in Qing Dynasty), Hakka cuisine (Hakka cuisine in Guangdong), Japanese cuisine during Japanese occupation (official chef who came to Taiwan with the Kuomintang after 1949), European, American and Southeast Asian cuisines, using Taiwan Province's rich marine resources, and integrating Chinese and Western cultures. "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" is a classic dish created under the background of this era. It is spicy and sour, salty and sweet. If you eat it, you have an indescribable strange feeling. It has the domineering traditional Hunan cuisine and the meticulous Minnan cuisine, which can't be described by words. You can only appreciate this wonderful feeling if you taste it yourself, and you must go to Pengyuan, Taiwan Province to personally taste the craftsmanship of Peng Chef.
Peng Changgui, a famous chef in Taiwan Province, was born in Shaping, Changsha County, Hunan Province. He was the inheritor of Tan Jiacai and the founder of Pengyuan Restaurant in Taiwan Province. Master Peng studied under the famous chef Cao Yuchen of Tan. His cooking is called Hunan cuisine, but he has a profound foundation of Huaiyang cuisine and Lingnan cuisine. With his own talent and innovation, he has created a new school of Hunan cuisine with unique characteristics, and has become the leading chef of Hunan cuisine in Taiwan Province, and is known as "the God of Taiwan Province Hunan cuisine", "the grandmaster of Taiwan Province Hunan cuisine", "the chef of state banquet" and "the master of Hunan cuisine". "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" is a famous dish created by Peng Changgui's boss.
Why did Peng Changgui create this "Zuo Zongtang Chicken"?
Xiao Peng, a small boss, said that his father went to Taiwan Province with the Kuomintang in 1949, and initially opened Huaxin, Huaxiang and Pengyuan restaurants in Taiwan Province. In 1952, the cross-strait situation was tense, and the United States sent Commander Arthur Ford to Taiwan Province for four days.
at that time, I asked Mr. Peng Changgui to study the menu for General Lei, and asked that the dishes should be different for three days. Two days ago, the host and guest had a good time. On the third day, he had a brainwave. He cut the chicken into pieces of different sizes and added special ingredients to make it on the table. As a result, the host and guest praised it in unison and asked him what the dish was called. Mr. Peng Changgui has always admired Xiang Xian Zuo Wen's personality, and thought that the name of Zuo Zongtang, a famous minister of Xiang Army in the late Qing Dynasty, could best set off the elegant characteristics of Hunan people, so he named it "Zuo Zongtang Chicken".
On a certain day in 197, it was past the meal time when Jiang Jingguo got off work. He arrived at Pengyuan Restaurant with his accompanying secretary, and was urgently told by Mr. Guo's staff to prepare a few simple dishes in Peng Changgui's restaurant. Peng Changgui specially prepared "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" and "Pengjia Tofu". Unexpectedly, after Mr. Guo spat, he was delicious and liked it very much. In the future, Mr. Jing Guo often recommended this dish to his friends, so "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" became famous in Taipei City for a while, causing a sensation in the party, government and military circles in Taiwan Province, and the gourmets who came here came in an endless stream.
Therefore, this "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" became not only the specialty of Pengyuan Restaurant, but also a well-known delicacy in Taiwan Province at that time. As long as every family entertains VIPs, no matter whether it looks like it or not, it must serve this delicacy.
(Peng Changgui and Kissinger)
Why did a famous American journalist cross the sea to the mainland and Taiwan Province to search for the delicacy "Zuo Zongtang Chicken"?
In p>1973, Peng Changgui went to the United States to develop and opened a branch of Pengyuan Restaurant in Manhattan, new york, where Ma Ying-jeou and Zhou Meiqing held a wedding reception. In the same year, Kissinger, then US Secretary of State, was invited to Pengyuan for dinner. Kissinger tasted "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" and loved it very much. Since then, he will visit Pengyuan every time he attends a meeting at the United Nations.
As Kissinger is the Secretary of State, every time he goes to Pengyuan for dinner, journalists from all over the United States accompany him. Wei 'an staff contracted the whole restaurant for safety reasons, which is equivalent to Kissinger's free advertising for Peng Yuan. Every dish ordered by Kissinger will be reported crazily by the media, not to mention the "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" that Kissinger must order every time. Therefore, overnight, "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" became famous all over the United States, and ABC TV also produced a special program report for this dish, which made this dish more famous in the United States.
Chinese restaurants all over the United States have followed suit and introduced many "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" (but they are all cottage versions, which are not authentic). This dish has become one of the most famous Chinese dishes in American cognition and the first Chinese dish that many Americans want to learn.
In early years, Taiwan Province students must learn this delicacy before studying abroad, so that they can use it to make some friends when they socialize abroad in the future. These Taiwan Province students brought "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" to all parts of the world, making it more famous, and also let many foreigners know Zuo Zongtang, a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty and a famous Hunan soldier, through this "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" delicacy.
if Zuo Zongtang had a spirit in heaven, he would never have expected that it was not his military achievements, but Taiwan Province, a delicacy, that made him famous all over the world. Although it is a bit disappointing, it is also an alternative marketing! If you are observant, you can see this "Zuo Zongtang Chicken" in the movie Pushing Hands and Wedding Banquet by the famous Taiwan Province director Ang Lee, and now you can enjoy this delicacy in Pengyuan Restaurant in Taiwan Province.