Netflix tip: The Search for General Tso
General Tso’s chicken is on the menu at every Chinese restaurant in the US, while most Chinese people have never even heard of it. The makers of the documentary The Search for General Tso, which is now on Netflix, go in search of the origins of this American-Chinese classic.
I really do love Netflix’s algorithm, which always tells me what I should watch. As soon as a new film or series about food or Asia is added, I hear about it. And when it’s also about Asian food, I celebrate twice as much. That’s exactly what I did when this film appeared on my screen.
American babi pangang
When we go to the local Chinese restaurant, we order babi pangang even though there is nothing Chinese about it. In the US, they have their own equivalent: general Tso’s chicken, a completely Americanized ‘Chinese’ dish. Cubes of chicken thigh are first fried until crispy and then coated in a sweet-and-sour sauce, often served with broccoli. Wherever you are in the country, every neighborhood Chinese restaurant has this dish on the menu. It is even so well known that, for the past few years, it has also appeared on menus in China, having crossed over from the other side of the world.
In search of its origins
The documentary takes you on a search for the origins of the dish. Who is the general it was named after, and in which restaurant was it first made? And how is it that this dish, rather than another, was copied by every American Chinese restaurant? You are taken to Chinese restaurants across America and get a glimpse into the archive of someone who has collected an uncountable number of restaurant menus. If you like Chinese food, I recommend watching this film very soon. Naturally, with a serving of babi pangang on your lap, since General Tso’s chicken isn’t available.
