Chef credited with inventing General Tso’s Chicken has died
NEW YORK — The chef credited with inventing General Tso’s Chicken, a world-famous Chinese dish smothered in a sweet sauce that was never a staple in China, has died in Taiwan at 98.
Peng Chang-kuei died of pneumonia last Wednesday in Taipei, his son, Chuck Peng, told The Associated Press. He was still cooking in the family’s Taipei restaurant kitchen just a few months ago.
Peng first brought the sticky, sweet and spicy dish to New York about 40 years ago.
It’s now on Chinese restaurant menus across the United States, exploding in popularity after President Nixon visited China in 1972. The dish also reportedly became a favourite of famed statesman Henry Kissinger, who with Nixon helped open the communist country to the West, spotlighting its culture and food.