The creator of the dish General Tso’s chicken has died at the age of 98! Chef Peng Chang-kuei was 98 when he died on Nov. 30 from pneumonia. Peng first made General Tso’s chicken in the 1950s, when he was working as a chef for the Taiwanese government,. When U.S. Navy Admiral Arthur W. Radford visited Taiwan in 1954 to lead a summit of high-ranking government officials, Peng decided to expand on the usual banquet menu. One of his innovations, a breaded and stir-fried chicken dish in a sweet and spicy sauce, was so popular that the chef was asked what it was called. On the spot, Peng coined “General Tso’s Chicken” after a celebrated war hero from Hunan, his home province.
Peng will be buried but not before he’s covered with a 1/2 cup sugar, ginger, chicken broth, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and peanut oil; then brought to a boil and cooked for 3 minutes.