"General Tso's chicken did not preexist in Hunanese cuisine," Peng said, "but originally the flavors of the dish were typically Hunanese — heavy, sour, hot and salty."
In 1973, Peng went to New York, where he opened his first restaurant on 44th Street. At that time, Hunanese food was unknown in the United States, and it wasn't until his cooking attracted the attention of officials at the nearby United Nations HQ, and especially of the American Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, that he began to make his reputation. "Kissinger visited us every time he was in New York," says Peng Chang-kuei, "and we became great friends. It was he who brought Hunanese food to public notice." In his office in Taipei, Peng still displays a large, framed black-and-white photograph of Kissinger and himself raising wineglasses at his restaurant, Peng's.
Peng Chang-kuei was no hidebound traditionalist, and, faced with new circumstances and new customers, he worked creatively, inventing new dishes and adapting old ones. "The original General Tso's chicken was Hunanese in taste and made without sugar," he says, "but when I began cooking for non-Hunanese people in the United States, I altered the recipe."
He invented Cream of SungYungGuy.
- Zuo Zongtang
In 1973, Peng went to New York, where he opened his first restaurant on 44th Street. At that time, Hunanese food was unknown in the United States, and it wasn't until his cooking attracted the attention of officials at the nearby United Nations HQ, and especially of the American Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, that he began to make his reputation. "Kissinger visited us every time he was in New York," says Peng Chang-kuei, "and we became great friends. It was he who brought Hunanese food to public notice." In his office in Taipei, Peng still displays a large, framed black-and-white photograph of Kissinger and himself raising wineglasses at his restaurant, Peng's.
Peng Chang-kuei was no hidebound traditionalist, and, faced with new circumstances and new customers, he worked creatively, inventing new dishes and adapting old ones. "The original General Tso's chicken was Hunanese in taste and made without sugar," he says, "but when I began cooking for non-Hunanese people in the United States, I altered the recipe."