On Tuesday, February 11, 2014 6:59:52 PM UTC+10, wrote:
> On Monday, February 10, 2014 2:14:37 PM UTC-8, sf wrote:
> >
> > http://dc.eater.com/archives/2011/10...e-dont-eat.php
[...]
> > 2) General Tso's Chicken: Come on, this guy was too busy warding off
> > rebellions to be cooking. This recipe is strictly American—chunks of
> > chicken battered, fried and sweetened for Western tastes. No one in
> > Hunan had even heard of this before 1970.

Given that it was invented in Taiwan in about 1970 (or in New York during the '70s, depending on the version of the story), it's no surprise that no one in Hunan had heard of it before 1970.

> This raises the question: Can a Chinese chef create an authentic Chinese
> dish once he emigrates from China? If not, can a Chinese chef create
> an authentic dish even if he never leaves China?

I'd consider the Taiwanese version to be an authentic Chinese dish, beyond all doubt. The restaurant was a Hunanese restaurant, and people might quibble about whether or not it's an authentic Hunanese dish.

Jennifer 8. Lee wrote quite a bit about the authenticity of such dishes in her book (The fortune cookie chronicles). http://fortunecookiechronicles.com/