In the sixth year of Tongzhi, Ding Baozhen, a scholar in Pingyuan Prefecture, Guizhou Province, was appointed as the governor of Shandong Province by the imperial court and stayed in Jinan Prefecture. This person has a reputation of being virtuous, upright and upright, and hating evil as hatred, and is deeply loved by the people.
Ding Gong, who has always led an honest and clean life, is simple and thorough. He doesn't even pay attention to luxury houses, and he only loves "food". To be an official, you must first travel incognito and find local celebrities to eat, and Jinan is no exception. In a few days, you will eat all the local Jiuzhuan large intestine, sweet and sour carp and braised elbow in Jinan. One day, he put on a small cap in Tsing Yi, and a servant slipped out the back door of the mansion and walked around Daming Lake. It's nearly noon, but when I see the blue waves rippling and weeping willows in the wind, Foshan in the distance is reflected in the water, and my heart is clear, I can't help but increase my appetite. Standing by the high lake, I looked around and saw the farm fence nearby. Chai Fei gently opened it. There was an old woman feeding the chickens in the yard, and her mind moved. She just got to know the local people's feelings and went there with her servant. Jinan people are famous for their hospitality. Observing the words and deeds, the old woman saw that the visitor's accent was not like that of the local people, and he was burly and imposing, and his entourage was respectful. She felt that she was not an idle generation, so she asked Ding Gong to come into the room and sit down to make tea and pour water, and at the same time had her son, who was a chef at the Lakeside Hotel, called back.
After chatting with the old woman for a long time, Ding Gong couldn't help feeling hungry. He said to himself, this farmhouse meal is terrible. What's the point? Glancing at the old woman secretly, she was as steady as Mount Tai. Just when she was surprised, she suddenly smelled a fragrance floating in. After a while, she saw a man with heavy eyes coming in with several plates on a square tray. Jiuzhuan large intestine, braised elbow and sweet and sour carp Ding Gong have all been tasted, but Yirao is Ding Gong, which has been eaten all over the country, but I have never seen or heard of it. It is so fragrant that people can't help crying. The man put his hand down and stood aside, and the old woman smiled and nodded to indicate that she could move chopsticks. Ding Gong ran to pick up a square and put it in his mouth. Only the tip of the tongue is slightly numb, and it is crispy and delicious when chewed gently. It feels like meat instead of meat, like chicken instead of chicken. Great. I was so happy that I couldn't help asking the man what the name of this dish was. The man smiled and said, "Fried diced chicken". "Oh," Ding Gong asked again, "since it's diced chicken, why is it so tender?" The man said, "This is made of local stupid chicken breast, diced, thinly coated with a layer of starch paste, which is conducive to quick cooking and prevents leakage of flavor, and then fried with peanuts, peppers and strong fire." Ding Gongfu certainly nodded and found a peanut in the dish and put it in his mouth. It tastes really different. This meal left Ding Gong with endless aftertaste. He remembered the place correctly, and soon after he returned to the office, he spent a lot of money to hire this man as a cook. Guests from afar will take fried diced chicken as the finale and never tire of eating it.
Later, Ding was transferred to be the governor of Sichuan, and went to ask this person for advice. At this time, Ding Gong was in Shandong for disaster relief and water control, diligent and loving the people, and forced to have political achievements. The man was very grateful to him, so he went to Sichuan with Ding Gong and took fried chicken to Sichuan. His descendants used peppers instead of peppers to make Sichuan fried chicken. Because there were "nine grades and eighteen grades" in the official ranks of the Qing Dynasty, officials at all levels had certain honorifics in the language and writing at that time. "Bao Gong" is an honorific title for the local governor and the highest local official, ranking second. A governor with a rank below the second class plus the title of "Prince Bao Shao" can also be called "Bao Gong". Ding Baozhen was called "Ding" at that time because he was once the governor of Shandong, later named "Prince Shao Bao" and later served as the governor of Sichuan. In order to commemorate him, later generations called his favorite dish "kung pao chicken", and kung pao chicken's production needs stir-frying, so it is sometimes called "kung pao chicken".
Shortly after Ding Gong's death, kung pao chicken was presented to the emperor as a tribute by local officials in Sichuan, and officially entered Beijing, which developed into one of the famous royal dishes. (
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