Springfield, MO boasts about 400 restaurants of all types. Some of them are the typical chains, some are little Ma and Pa joints. But nearly 15% of the restaurants in town are Chinese. Seriously. And they don't have a large Chinese population in Springfield.
Springfield - population about 150,000 - has the highest number of Chinese restaurants per capita than any other city in the U.S. They have over 60 Chinese restaurants listed in the 2005 phone book. The appeal and draw of Chinese restaurants in the Springfield area has to do with the fact that Cashew Chicken - that staple of Chinese restaurants across America - was invented in Springfield in 1967. No shit!
Cashew Chicken was invented in 1967 at Leong's Tea House. David Leong was born in China and came to the United States in 1940. He opened up his restaurant in 1963, back when Springfield wasn't quite as urbane as it is today. Asian food wasn't quite as accepted in the Ozarks back then as it is now and his restaurant was struggling. He noticed that the people of the area really loved chicken. So he came up with a recipe that involved deep frying chunks of breaded chicken in peanut oil and then serving it with a an oyster/peanut sauce - almost a gravy, if you will. He topped it with cashews and green onions and it became Cashew Chicken.
The dish was an instant hit and Leong's Tea House sprung a number of other off-spring restaurants that specialized in Cashew Chicken.
Now, there are some Chinese food snobs out there who claim that Springfield style Cashew Chicken is not real Chinese food, but an Americanized version of a an old Chinese recipe of Cashew Chicken using vegetables and a soy based sauce. Szechwan Cashew Chicken style is a little more spicy, they usually add pea-pods and mushrooms along with it.
You go into Chinese restaurants in St. Louis, Kansas City, or any other city for about 500 miles around Springfield and they'll have two different types of Cashew Chicken on the menu - Springfield style or Chinese style (or Szechwan style).
I've never cared for Cashew Chicken. I tried it at Leong's years ago and it was good, but it wasn't anything that I've ever yearned for. I like peanuts and cashews, but I'd rather eat them while drinking a beer and not having them in my food.
Leong's closed in 1997, but the legacy of Cashew Chicken contines with the large number of Chinese restaurants in Springfield. Pick any Chinese restaurant and give it a shot sometime if you're in the Springfield area.
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