The Search for General Tso

I finally saw the movie, and here is the review:

Film Review: I’ll give a quick recap of the film, and sprinkle in FOR THE CLASS, where I’ll put in how I would use that previous section of the film for the classroom.

The Search for General Tso (http://www.thesearchforgeneraltso.com/)
The Netflix release notes says: “This clever, wide-ranging documentary examines the 19th century Chinese military man General Tso and the origins of the chicken dish named for him.” IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3576038/?ref_=nv_sr_1) says: “Who was General Tso, and why are we eating his chicken? This feature documentary explores the origins and ubiquity of Chinese-American food through the story of an iconic sweet and spicy chicken dish.”
The film’s 71 minutes is appropriate for all grade levels, I didn’t spot any offensive images, or dialogue. It might seem a bit long for elementary schools unless it’s split into multiple days. Since the film is divided into cities visited, those might be the natural breaks for the teacher to pause for discussions of for future viewing.
FOR THE CLASS: Introducing this film I would let my 4th grade class know it’s a dish, and have them predict why it’s named after a general. Is it a real person? Was it invented here in the States, or in China? What other dishes are named after people? We could mention drinks like Shirley Temple.


New York
The film begins with Harley Spiller, Chinese menu collector, who holds the Guinness World Record Holder for the most menus (verified: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-collection-of-menus)
FOR THE CLASS: I would have students brainstorm and chart out what other kinds of world records can we compete in. Ask them what things do they like collecting, and would they want to collect so much as to be in the record books.
The film continues with people on the street trying to guess who General Tso was, as well as the spelling of his name: Cho, Tsau, Tso, Tsoa.
Shanghai, China
Photos of the dish are passed around the populace with little recognition of what this dish is. The name is unfamiliar in Chinese menus. A researcher there points out however, that in the Hunan Province of China there is record of General Tso. We are treated to views of the General Tso Hotel, General Tso liquor, elementary school, museum, square, and his home. The home has a drawing of him on the wall.
FOR THE CLASS: I would ask students to discuss, take an online poll (f you have the devices for it), or write in their interactive Asia Week journal, what locations, foods, etc. are named after famous people around us? Lincoln Memorial, Vallarta Supermarket, Ralph’s, Wendy’s.
A descendent of Tso explains that he was a 19th century general who helped put down a peasant rebellion. He had Westerners out of China philosophy.
Ironically, research showed that culturally, Hunan cuisine wouldn’t have enjoyed the type of dish due to the blend of flavors.
San Francisco
The Chinese historical society has no file on the general, but they did give insight as to the spread of Chinese food in the United States. They give a quick summary of the 1840’s Cantonese arrival for the Gold Rush in California. They talk about the 1882 Exclusion Act.
FOR THE CLASS: This is a great place to bring in themes of race relations (especially in today’s climate), California history, and personal connections with immigrant students in the class.
Arizona
The movie talks about racism and a family opening up a restaurant here in this state. They talk about the spread, not only in Arizona, but also in the U.S of Chop Suey.
FOR THE CLASS: Many students in the U.S. come from varied backgrounds. We can have a discussion about Mexican food in other states, Thai food proliferation. I can share how when my parents arrived in the U.S. in the early 70’s, markets didn’t sell tortillas, one of the most common food items in ANY market here in Southern California now. I would share when I was in Northern Thailand in 1991, there were no 7 elevens, only 2 donut shops, and the only place to get a hamburger was the international café at the airport. By the summer of 1991, there were 3 seven elevens. Now the country is inundated with them. As well as other fast food branches.
When I was a kid, my mom would get a “chop suey in a bag” mix where all you needed to do was add chicken, then stir fry away. It was so good...had celery, bean sprout, that sauce and who knows what else.
Missouri
Prejudice continues into the 1940’s with the opening of the only Chinese restaurant there, until the invention of Cashew Chicken…the Chinese reworking of the menu to suit local tastes opens up a new market. (Conspiracy: did McDonald’s take the chicken nugget idea from this guy?).
FOR THE CLASS: have you gone to a new place and had people not treat you well, but once they get to know you or your talent, you are accepted? New to the class? Your old teacher knew you and knew what you were capable of, but it takes a while for a new teacher to know your strengths and weaknesses.
New Orleans
The theme of reworking menus continues with cuisine like Szechuan Alligator and Chinese Gumbo.
New York
1943 Exclusion Act repealed
1948 Cultural Revolution in China
This section talks about the plateau that Chinese food had reached in America’s palettes at that point. With Communism looking like the bad guy, Chinese food lost some luster.
1972 Nixon visits China. Many Chinese restaurants that had a difficult time previously, were seeing a resurgence of popularity. The fancier ones even had entire courses of food to mimic the State dinner Nixon enjoyed while in China.
1970’s Szechuan and Hunan cuisine began to take a foothold in America’s Chinese restaurants.
1972 a Hunan restaurant had the first U.S. General Tso Chicken dish on the menu.
And then this answers the question, right? Where it came from, who made it? We know who the general was, roll the credits…. squeaky record needle on vinyl cues in…and we roll back to:
Taiwan
1955, where Chef Peng (who had left Hunan for Taiwan in 1949), creates many dishes and one in particular to celebrate a local hero: Hunan’s General Tso.
The actual Chef Peng talks about the bittersweet experience of having a dish he created being used all over the world. He shakes his head in disbelief when he sees the variations in photos of his signature dish.
Hollywood
P.F. Chang’s has their variation on the dish: General Chang’s
New York
Variations of Chinese food exists in many forms…Chinese Indian food, General Tso Veal, General Tso Tofu…
China

You can now find General Tso Chicken, in China.

FOR THE CLASS: In the context of the film they brought up an interesting thought, one where I would write on the board most likely at the end of the film for discussion or homework. Somebody mentioned a cultural attitude when it comes to Chinese food. They said when it came, say, to French cuisine, it takes a lot of time and detail to make, and it’s expensive. Chinese food is also time consuming, and detail to make, yet we expect it to be cheap. Why is that? An interesting thought.
In the San Fernando Valley I went to 5 restaurants in one evening looking for this dish to no avail, help anyone? I know from Yelp and other sites, that they say this dish is primarily an East Coast delicacy...say it isn't so!