SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Missouri has many symbols for the state, from a state dinosaur, a state exercise, the Arch, and even a UFO capitol.
State Representative Jamie Gragg, representing the 140th District in the Missouri House of Representatives, wants to add cashew chicken as the state dish.
Kansas City has BBQ, St. Louis has toasted ravioli, and Springfield has cashew chicken. David Leong perfected what is now called Springfield Cashew Chicken. History claims the dish was first served in 1963 at the Grove Supper Club.
House Bill 1624 would make Cashew Chicken the official dish for Missouri. The proposed law states that the deep-fried dish is served in over 70 restaurants in Springfield. Representative Gragg is ready for the debate with his fellow house members on why the state dish should be cashew chicken.
“We are flattered that everyone wants to copy us. It’s like you said we are the original. It is just amazing of what my father did, just a simple Chinese immigrant,” says Wing Yee Leong, the Executive Chief of Leong Asian Diner and the son of David Leong.
For the Leong family having the dish that was created and served by their family since the 60′s named the state dish would mean...
“It would just be an exclamation mark on his legacy. We are just trying to keep that together for him,” say Leong.
For Representative Gragg it symbolizes the American Dream.
“In Springfield style cashew chicken there is long back story. The American Dream, the American story being it,” says Representative Gragg.
Missouri has does have a state dessert which is the ice cream cone that was first introduced at the World’s Fair in 1904 and made the official dessert in 2008.
“He creates a dish, makes it to our taste buds, and makes it so the Missouri taste buds are in favor of it, and it just explodes,” says Representative Gragg.
And for the Leong family, they hope the state general assembly will agree.
“Our legislature, the one that put the bill in he sees it. I just hope the other legislatures in Missouri realize how much an impact it has made in Missouri,” says Leong.
And when it comes to the other Missouri staples from Kansas City and St. Louis, “Toasted ravioli is really more of an appetizer, so that is the response to that. And I can’t find one specific style, one specific Kansas City BBQ. It is very broad, and where I love Kansas City BBQ, it is very, very broad. And ultimately, the cashew chicken, Springfield-style cashew chicken, has a whole long back story. There is the American Dream, the American Story behind it,” says Representative Gragg.
The Secretary of State has a list of the Missouri state symbols and locations.
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December 28, 2023 at 12:23AM
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Lawmaker hopes to make Springfield Cashew Chicken the new state dish - KY3
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