And now? Word that Chef Peng Chang-kuei, who created General Tso's Chicken, died Wednesday night of pneumonia.
Peng first made General Tso's chicken in the 1950s, when he was working as a chef for the Taiwanese government, according to Taiwan Business Topics. 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," according to Taiwan Business Topics, after a celebrated war hero from Hunan, his home province.
He was...98.
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