

Katie Kull covers local government for the News-Leader. Cashew Chicken is the official food of Springfield, Missouri. News-Leader columnist Steve Pokin contributed to this report. Leong's Tea House closed its doors in 1997, but his cashew chicken is still being served at over 70 Chinese restaurants in the Springfield area, and elsewhere in Missouri and other states. When his children asked him why, Leong relayed an adage his mother had shared: "If you are good to people and you help them, you are going to live a long life." Springfield-style cashew chicken is so pervasive in the area, in part because Leong gave the recipe away to others if they asked.

Sink your teeth into chicken breast battered and fried to order and served on a bed of French fries, topped with cashews, green onions, cheese curds and classic cashew sauce. In 2010, he and his father decided to go into business together, opening up Leong's Asian Diner that December. Commercial St., Springfield 41 The cashew chicken poutine is one that’s hard to resist.

He worked as a chef at several area restaurants and noticed a spike in business whenever the day's special was Springfield-style cashew chicken, he told the News-Leader in 2018. When his wife died in 1997, he decided to close Leong's Tea House.īut his son, Wing Yee, carried on the family business. Wing Leong was running the place when I started, but it was his father David who invented Springfield cashew chicken. Leong also expanded his own family while living in the Queen City, having four more children. That's where he created Springfield-style cashew chicken, which is made with deep-fried chicken and slathered in a brown gravy of soy sauce, oyster sauce and stock with green onions and halved cashews.īut his restaurant also served traditional Chinese food, which many credit with introducing the area to Asian cuisine and paving the way for other immigrants to find success in the area. Leong worked at local restaurants before opening up Leong's Tea House in 1963. Watch popular content from the following creators: ThatGuyWywy(thatguywywy). He visited her, and eventually she and their three children moved to Springfield. Discover short videos related to springfield cashew chicken recipe on TikTok. It was during that time he also learned the wife he left in China, Shau Ngor Wong, was still alive after the war. directions In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and 1 tablespoon cornstarch.
