Leong's Asian Diner is "Home of the Original Springfield Style Cashew Chicken!"

"Springfield-style cashew chicken comes with a well-documented story. Area natives love the regional favorite, and newcomers ultimately come to adopt it as their own. Residents in Springfield, Missouri have long recognized Mr. David Leong as the originator of Springfield-style cashew chicken, and as such they embrace the Leong family as a part of their own.

David Leong immigrated to the United States in 1940 from Guangdong, China. He became a naturalized citizen, then served his adopted country during World War II. (During the Normandy invasion, he was in the fourth wave of troops to hit Omaha Beach.) In November 1963, he opened Leong’s Tea House, a 350-seat white-tablecloth restaurant on the suburban fringe of Springfield, Missouri in what had once been a cornfield.

Inspired by the economy of the cashew chicken and the success of the Teahouse, a number of cashew-chicken-centric restaurants followed Mr. Leong’s lead. By the 1970s, the Leong family’s dish had become such a part of the Springfield culinary scene that there were literally hundreds of Chinese restaurants serving their version of cashew chicken, and many still do today."



So, of course, I had to try the cashew chicken. It is deep-fried chicken chunks covered a sauce made from chicken stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce and cashews. It's savory and umami and satisfying.



The dish is popular in the Springfield area and is often cited as the unofficial "dish of the city." Springfield even hosts an annual festival that is centered on this chicken dish: Springfield Sertoma's Cashew Craze.



Grade: A