The Secret Jewish History Of General Tso’s Chicken
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Phil O’Lologous February 16, 2018
There are two hidden truths about China’s General Tso, whose ill-advised military incursion into Japan put the miso in misogyny and the saké into “for heaven’s sake.
The first is that he had a speech impediment. The second is that he was a coward. This latter character flaw was resented by the rank and file, who would regale him with cries of, “General Tso’s chicken.”
In response, the general ordered his cooks to prepare a dish that would be both cheap and popular.
After 23 experiments, the cooks settled on a honeyed, fried concoction with diced fowl. When they set up camp and soldiers began to shout abuse at the leaders, the response from the mess tent was to bring out, #24, General Tso’s chicken.
This would be an odd, if unremarkable episode in world history if it didn’t intersect with Jewish history in the person of the general himself. Born Abraham Tsorowitz to a Jewish trading family in Vladivostok, the communal shame at the Jewish roots of China’s cowardly general, is reflected in the Yiddish word that greets such problems, “tsores.”
The Tsorowitz family were one of the few groups of Russian Jewish emigres to go East rather than West. Some people say that they went to the east coast for the business opportunities but others dispute that motivation. Abraham’s father was famous among his Vilna family for once going out to buy a beet and ending up in Moscow.
The family name comes from the town of Hořovice, though family lore would rather it came from “Tsarowitz” through illegitimate descendants of a liaison between the Tsar and a beautiful Jewish courtesan. Photos of the general who was, like his namesake dish, sweet but bland, suggest however, that he counted no beautiful courtesans among his ancestors.
After military disgrace, Tso lived his life in exile in the Kuril Islands, named for Tso’s Greek uncle, Cyril Arkipelagos. The rest of the family scattered and suffered tragically. Three cousins were killed in the Holocaust, three were killed in the Israeli war of independence and, perhaps worst of all, three cousins ended up on Long Island.
Tso’s military career ended abruptly. In response to the American telegram inquiring as to his success, the Chinese responded in English with a telegram containing the world’s least interesting palindrome.
“Tso lost.”
Phil O’Lologous is the former language columnist for the Backward. Follow him on Twitgramspace @flolologoggle or waft him on the Snooplechip with the engram %$%Phil
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
