An Age Old Question Answered
Doubtlessly, everyone in America has at one time or another sampled Americanized Chinese Cuisine, and most of those people will have, at some point, noticed how similar the menus are from establishment to establishment. A much smaller percentage of those people will be aware that most of what appears on American Chinese restaurant menus is as foreign to the Chinese as it is to them. That is, people in China don't eat what you get at Lucky Wok down the street.
So where exactly did dishes like "General Tso's Chicken" come from, if in Hunan no one knows about it? The New York Times answers.
General Tso’s chicken is named for Tso Tsung-t’ang (now usually transliterated as Zuo Zongtang), a formidable 19th-century general who is said to have enjoyed eating it. The Hunanese have a strong military tradition, and Tso is one of their best-known historical figures. But although many Chinese dishes are named after famous personages, there is no record of any dish named after Tso.The real roots of the recipe lie in the chaotic aftermath of the Chinese civil war, when the leadership of the defeated Nationalist Party fled to the island of Taiwan. They took with them many talented people, including a number of notable chefs, and foremost among them was Peng Chang-kuei... (click to read on)
Alas, they only detail the genesis of the Tso's Chicken, but it's interesting nonetheless. It's nice to know that the dish wasn't devised by some secretive lodge of Chinese food restauranteurs deep within the sewers of San Francisco, as I've previously heard rumored. Really. From someone stupid, that is.