A chicken-less version of the battered-and-sauced dish inspires a quiet rebellion.

One of the few things we know for sure about the smoky-spicy-sweet-sauced, golden-battered nuggets known as General Tso’s chicken is that the General Tso for whom it is named almost certainly existed, and that this particular General Tso was the thickly mustachioed 19th-century scholar, statesman, and military leader Zuo Zongtang.

Despite suppressing rebellions, leading the 60,000-strong Hunan forces to occupy Urumqi, and dying on horseback during the Sino-French War, he’s best known as the namesake for this immensely popular dish that culinary historians say he probably never ate, much less invented.

As for who did invent General Tso’s chicken, and where and when this happened, debates rage. But one of the other things we know for sure is this: It’s one of the dishes that vegetarians and vegans most miss, because meatless versions of a recipe based on delectably deep-fried chicken are notoriously difficult to produce. Getting the ruby-red sauce right, and scattering the platter with whole red peppers are the relatively easy parts.

Nature Vegetarian Restaurant, an addictively serene and 100 percent vegan outpost just north of Oakland Chinatown, does a standout version, dubbed General’s Chicken. Its sauce is deftly flavor-balanced; its crunchy-juicy nuggets have at their hearts house-made seitan inspired by traditional recipes that owner-chef Jian Liu learned while cooking at a Buddhist monastery. Served à la carte and as a generously portioned lunchtime rice plate, it’s devoutly meatless if not exactly guiltless: Batter-fried is batter-fried, no matter what’s inside.

Nature Vegetarian Restaurant, 1116 Franklin St., Oakland, 510-238-9688, www.naturevegetarianrestaurant.com.

This article appears in the September-October 2013 issue of Alameda Magazine
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