Is Kung Pao Chicken Authentic?
Posted by Lee Zalben, October 14, 2009 at 3:45 PM Note: Lee Zalben, a.k.a. “the Peanut Butter Guy” is the creator of the Peanut Butter & Co., a New York sandwich shop with a national line of nut butters. Every week he’ll chime in with some nuttiness. This week, he questions the authenticity of Kung Pao chicken. [Flickr: Lewi Hirvela] They call me “The Peanut Butter Guy.” Everyone just assumes I know everything there is to know about peanuts and peanut butter, even the most esoteric and tangential of facts. I was out with some friends the other night at a popular Chinese restaurant in Manhattan. Of course I ordered the Kung Pao chicken. In part, because wherever I go, everyone always expects me to order the dish on the menu with peanuts in it, and in part because I really like Kung Pao chicken. (Peanuts are a great partner for chili peppers.) One of my friends immediately started quizzing me, and a debate ensued over the authenticity of Kung Pao chicken as a traditional Chinese dish. So
