kung pao

Where does the word "kung pao" come from? It comes from Chinese gong bao, and was adopted directly into English (1900s).

Kung pao’s story begins in Chinese: gong bao meant “a palace guardian's title.” A title held by a Qing dynasty official credited with popularizing the spicy stir-fried dish. It reached English by 1900s as kung pao. Named after Ding Baozhen, a Qing governor of Sichuan whose title was 'gongbao', palace guardian. Today, kung pao means a spicy Chinese stir-fried dish, typically made with chicken, peanuts, and chili peppers.

1. Stage 1 · Chinese · 1800s gong bao "a palace guardian's title", a title held by a Qing dynasty official credited with popularizing the spicy stir-fried dish.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1900s kung pao "a spicy stir-fried Sichuan dish, typically with chicken and peanuts", named after Ding Baozhen, a Qing governor of Sichuan whose title was 'gongbao', palace guardian.