Stir-fried cashew chicken is common on Chinese-American restaurant menus all around the country. But deep-fried cashew chicken is so much the signature dish of Springfield, Missouri, that acolytes know it as Springfield chicken. Introduced in 1963 by restaurateur David Leong, who was seeking a way to attract fried-chicken-loving Missourians to his Cantonese tearoom, it is a happy mix of breaded and crisp-fried chicken pieces dolloped with brown oyster sauce and decorated with halved cashews and chopped scallions. The Springfield News-Leader labeled it “an example of ‘fusion’ cooking before the term became a justification for $30 entrees”; and in fact its jejune taste and economical nature have made it a favorite not just in Chinese restaurants but in local diners and school cafeterias. The News-Leader reported that fifty Springfield restaurants serve it and that it has earned fans in Arkansas and as far away as South Lake Tahoe, California.