Peng Chang-kuei | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1919-09-26)September 26, 1919[1] |
| Died | November 30, 2016(2016-11-30) (aged 97)[1] |
| Occupation | Chef ofHunan cuisine |
Peng Chang-kuei (彭長貴,Xiang Chinese:[pən˩˧tʂan˩˧kwej˥];[2] September 26, 1919 – November 30, 2016[1]) was a chef specializing inHunan cuisine. Throughout his culinary career, he was based inHengyang,Chongqing,Taipei andNew York City. He is credited with creatingGeneral Tso's chicken.
Peng was born on September 26, 1919,[1] in Shaping-xiang,Changsha County,Hunan Province,Republic of China.
In 1933, Peng became the apprentice of Cao Jinchen (曹藎臣), the fourth-in-line personal chef of the lateTan Yankai, a Hunan statesman and the formerPremier of the Republic of China.[3] Peng followed Cao Jinchen toHengyang, Hunan, when Cao found his own restaurantYuloudong (玉樓東).[3][4]
Following the1938 Changsha fire, Peng and his family moved toGuiyang and finally toChongqing, the wartime capital. His father and elder brother died on the way.[3] While working in the Hunan restaurantXiaoxiang Jiudian (瀟湘酒店) in Chongqing,[4] he was offered to be the personal chef of Zeng Guangshan.[3] Zeng, then in her 80s, was a native of Hunan and the granddaughter ofZeng Guofan, the commander of theXiang Army and the mother of Lt. GeneralYu Ta-wei [zh], the head of the Department of Weapons of theMinistry of War.[3][4] He was well connected to the senior figures of theNationalist government while in Chongqing.[4][3][5] He cofoundedBanyating (半雅亭) restaurant in Chongqing.[4]
After theSecond Sino-Japanese War, he returned to Changsha. He was married for the first time (he remarried twice in Taiwan).[4] Before thecommunist takeover of Hunan in September 1949, he parted ways with his mother, wife, and children to follow theKuomintang's retreat to Taiwan.[4]
In 1952, Peng found the Hunan restaurantYuloudong (玉樓東) in Taipei, but it was destroyed by fire a few years later.[4] In 1955, he was in charge of the staff restaurant of theOverseas Community Affairs Council of the Republic of China.[4] In 1956, he found two restaurants in Taipei,Tianchanglou (天長樓) andPeng Yuan (彭園).[4] In 1959, he was in charge of the staff restaurant of theCentral Bank of the Republic of China.[4] In the 1960s, he cofounded the restaurantDung Wan Gok (Cantonese: 東雲閣) in Hong Kong, but it was destroyed in a fire five days before its opening.[3]
Peng emigrated toNew York City in 1973 and opened his own restaurant, Uncle Peng's Hunan Yuan, near theHeadquarters of the United Nations.[6] General Tso's chicken featured in his New York restaurant.[1][6][7][8][9] He returned to Taiwan in the 1980s to open a chain of Peng Yuan restaurants, later opening a branch in his hometown of Changsha.[1][6] In 2017 four branches of the original restaurant were in operation as well as additional restaurants under a brand called Xiang Ba Lao targeted at a younger demographic. The restaurants use local chickens raised by small farmers (tuji chicken) rather than cheaper imported meat.[10]
In 2008, Peng was interviewed byJennifer 8. Lee for the documentaryThe Search for General Tso (2014).[11][12][13] In the documentary, Peng recalled in 1952 he was invited by theRepublic of China Navy to be in charge of a three-day state banquet during AdmiralArthur W. Radford's visit of Taiwan.[12][13] Peng claimed Tso's chicken was served on Radford's menu on the third day.[12][13] According to U.S. diplomatic records, Radford's visit was during June 2–6, 1953.[14] An alternative story proposed by Taiwanese food writer Zhu Zhenfan (2009) claimedChiang Ching-kuo, the son of PresidentChiang Kai-shek, paid a late visit to Peng's restaurant when Peng ran out of ingredients. Chiang was served an improvised dish, General Tso's chicken, by Peng.[15]
The earliest news account on Peng was on November 13, 1968, and 15-24 January 1969 under the identical news heading "彭長貴的故事", published byEconomic Daily News (經濟日報) in Taipei.[16] It is not clear whether his stories about his invention of the Tso's chicken were featured in those 1968-1969 news report.
Peng was married twice. His first was in Taiwan in 1950 during which he had a son (b. 1953) but divorced shortly after. His married a second time in 1961 and had a son and a daughter.[4] There are claims he had seven children. Peng died frompneumonia inTaipei,Taiwan in November 2016.[7][17]
The chef, who had two children from a marriage in mainland China and five from a second marriage in Taiwan, was 97 years old by Western reckoning.
