Here at TCM, we like to dabble with history books. So today we had a discussion about how General Tso’s chicken came to fruition. We all came up with a solution. This my friends, is the story of General Tso.
You see, General Tso, or Genny T as I like to call him was what us Americans call today as a chicken farmer. He as a matter of fact was the man who invented fried chicken nuggets. Not what you all think, like from McDonalds or a certain Colonel from down south; No. From what I speculate, Genny T was out in his coop with his chickens, doing his chicken business, when he was approached by 3 samurai soldiers looking for a mean chicken dish. Of course Genny T could assist them; he was a friggen chicken farmer for god sakes. Anyways, the only stipulation that the soldiers needed was that the chicken be done within 5 minutes, or they would start lopping off body parts from Genny T. *On a side note, his official name at this time was not General, it was Private, but to keep the story somewhat sane, I will keep to calling him Genny T.
Anyhoo, as you have all seen I’m sure on the Discovery Channel, is that Chinese people enjoy the taste of hot oil. At this time, they did not know to cook with it, but only to eat it. So, like any ‘ol Chinese person, Genny T had a dish of boiling hot oil to sip on while working amongst his chickens. Since he knew it would take 15-20 minutes to cook the chicken via grill, he decided he would step into unknown territory. So, Genny T approached the 3 soldiers and asked them to pick out a chicken and that they did. What the soldiers would witness next would shock and sicken them simultaneously. Genny T took their chicken, chopped the head off, de-feathered him in record time and shoved the chicken into his boiling oil. Approximately 3 minutes and 42 seconds later, the world had its first fried chicken. Shocked, the second samurai whose name we all know today as Egg Foo Young threw up all over the fried chicken. The other 2 soldiers, were pissed and made Genny T eat this new fried, thrown up on chicken. But mind you, all the Chinese ate was hot oil…so; this mixed with stomach acids creates a spicy yet sweet goo sauce. Genny T was reluctant to try his new creation, but knew his life depended on it. He took his first bite and was absolutely amazed at how good it tasted. He urged that the 3 soldiers try his dish. They did, and were also amazed at how well it was too. Because of how good this new food was, the 3 soldiers promoted Genny T to General, and passed the good word around China and soon, the world would know this gooey fried sensation as General Tso’s Chicken. Thank you and good night.
