General Tso’s chicken is a Chinese-American sweet and spicy dish consisting of chicken dices that are first deep-fried, then stir-fried together with ginger, garlic, scallions, and hot chili peppers in a sauce made from sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and rice wine.
Although named after General Tso Tsungtang, the dish has no real-life connection with him. The dish is most likely a descendant of a simple Hunanese chicken dish, and two immigrant chefs, Chinese and Taiwanese - respectively, claim to be its inventors.
MOST ICONIC General Tso's Chicken
View moreAlthough Chinese-American, cashew chicken is a simple ding dish, meaning it falls in the category of Chinese stir-fries that are prepared by stir-frying diced chicken meat and vegetables to which an additional crunchy element such as nuts is added.
As this dish is no exception, once the chicken and vegetables have been stir-fried, they are coated in a sauce made with chicken stock, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Boiled or toasted cashews are incorporated in the end, and the finished dish is served with rice.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Beef & broccoli is an American dish consisting of pieces of flank steak that are stir-fried with broccoli and seasoned with a Chinese-style sauce made with oyster sauce, soy sauce, and cornstarch. The dish has Chinese influences, although it is not originally Chinese, but it is believed that the first versions of the dish were prepared by Chinese immigrants who had settled in San Francisco.
The original version included Chinese broccoli called gai lan, which is more bitter and stronger in flavor than the usual broccoli we have grown accustomed to in the West.
The earliest known Chinese-American dish called chop suey is believed to have been invented in the United States in the mid-1800s by Chinese immigrants who were trying to make authentic Chinese food more suitable for westerners. And even though chop suey could easily be as American as apple pie, some food historians speculate that it originated from the Cantonese tsap seui (lit. mixed leftovers), an impressive medley of stir-fried vegetables.
However, being limited by the scarcity of Asian vegetables in America, Chinese cooks started stir-frying any vegetables which were at hand, adding shredded chicken, pork, or even beef to the mix, and serving it over steamed rice. Being such an amazing mash-up of Oriental and Western cuisine, it soon started to appear on the menus of Chinese restaurants across the country.
MOST ICONIC Chop Suey
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