Gongbao Chicken

Gongbao Chicken is a famous dish with chicken breast and peanuts as the main ingredients. Because it was invented by a Qing Dynasty official called Ding Baozhen, people named it after the Ding’s emeritus official title, which is “Gongbao”. Legend has it that Ding was an incorruptible official. He cared about the people and had few material pursuits except his love for good food. When he was off duty, he would go out on a tour in common clothes in search of great food. During his office in Shandong Province, one day, Ding took an excursion to Daming Lake in Shandong Province with his servants. After enjoying the beautiful scenery there, he felt a bit hungry and walked into a peasant’s courtyard where an old woman was feeding her chicken. The people in that village were known for their hospitality. The woman immediately offered Ding some tea and had someone get her son back from a restaurant where he worked as a cook. The son could judge from Ding’s imposing appearance and his different accent that he was an important guest. So went into the kitchen and started cooking right away. A moment later, he came out carrying a tray with a few dishes. Ding tried every dish and was particularly fascinated with the chicken and peanut one. The chicken was very tender and tasty and the peanut was crispy. He asked Ding how it was made and wrote down the recipe. Soon afterwards Ding employed this young man as his private cook. He brought the cook later when he was transferred to work in Sichuan Province. Sichuan has a humid climate so people there enjoy eating very spicy food to help them feel less damp inside. The dish was slightly modified and was categorized into Sichuan cuisine. After Ding died, an official in Sichuan presented the recipe of this dish to the emperor, so later it was placed on the list of famous imperial dishes.