Springfield, Missouri
We travel to Springfield, Missouri, to investigate the origins of cashew chicken, learn some local history, and play catch.
We began our next big drive heading south from O’Fallon, threading our way through blocks of retail and a brief stint on an interstate before climbing the foothills of the Ozark Mountains into the Ozark Highlands.
We had decided to take a direct route to Springfield and thus were pleasantly surprised to see highway vistas dominated by oaks, hickories, and maples, all looking vibrant and lively under spells of spring sunshine.
About halfway through, in St. Roberts, Missouri, we spotted a road sign for the Uranus Fudge & General Store, whose motto is, “The Best Fudge Comes from Uranus.” This delighted Dad for the remaining half of the drive and beyond.
Leong’s Cashew Chicken
I first became aware of Springfield’s unlikely connection to the Chinese cashew chicken dish in April 2023. That’s when the Springfield Cardinals announced the team would appear on-field as the Springfield Cashew Chickens on select nights, honoring the creation of local restaurateur Wing Yin “David” Leong.
Leong was a Chinese immigrant to the United States who served as a cook in the U.S. Army during World War II. He later settled in Springfield, opening Leong’s Tea House in 1963. It was the first Chinese restaurant in the area, and acceptance didn’t come immediately: In its first year, someone threw sticks of dynamite at the building and stole lion statues from the front entryway.
But Leong soon developed a dish that gained a following throughout southern Missouri — a variation on cashew chicken that uses fried chicken instead of stir-fried, and tosses it in a rich, brown gravy. Other restaurants in the region attempted to copy the recipe, but Leong’s is still known as the original and, for many locals, the best.
The Tea House closed in 1997, but in 2010, the family opened Leong’s Asian Diner, with David Leong still involved in the business until his death in 2020 at age 99. This is where we needed to be for lunch, and we of course ordered the cashew chicken.
Our verdict? The chicken itself was delicious — tender, juicy, and just lightly fried — but the sauce was aggressively bland. Dad described it as “disappointingly boring.” We surmised that mid-century Midwestern palates required mild recipes. Indeed, as I learned later, Leong conceded to local tastes by frying the chicken and making his sauce heavier — more like Southern comfort food.
As we sat in Leong’s, I received a direct message from author Ethan Bryan, who gained some notoriety in 2018 by going on a quest to play catch every day for a year. He’s based in Springfield and asked me if I wanted to play catch that afternoon. We agreed to meet a little later in Park Central Square in the heart of downtown.
Bryan also suggested we stop by a fence in town that his youngest daughter had painted. It depicts Wallace the Whale, a character in a children’s book that Bryan and his daughter are working on together. (I’ve seen it; it’s beautiful!)
Known as the "Queen City of the Ozarks" and the birthplace of Route 66, Springfield has about 170,000 residents, making it the third most populous city in Missouri. The first European-American settlers arrived in the 1820s, drawn by the fertile land and the natural springs that gave the town its name when it was incorporated in 1838. Today, Springfield is a hub for outdoor recreation and is home to both Missouri State University and the headquarters of Bass Pro Shops.
History Museum on the Square
We drove to Park Central Square and made our way to the History Museum on the Square, which tells the story of Springfield, Greene County, and the surrounding region across five floors of the early-20th-century Barth Building.
Exhibits included coverage of Springfield’s and Missouri’s role in the Civil War, when both North and South claimed the state; a shootout that occurred right outside on the Square between Wild Bill Hickok and Davis Tutt, considered to be the first-recorded quick-draw duel in the Old West (fatally lost by Tutt); Springfield’s transformation through transportation; and the city’s role as the “birthplace of Route 66,” when Springfield businessman and promoter John Woodruff proposed the number “66” for the new highway stretching from Los Angeles to Chicago, passing right through Park Central Square.
Dad and I completed our rounds, then strolled across the street and into the square. I spotted Ethan, who also recognized me and began to approach. But we all stopped when a car close by suddenly played a loud and obnoxious horn sequence. Men inside the car shouted, played the horn again, then sped off, circling the square and blaring the horn, over and over. The three of us stood and watched as a scruffy young man — perhaps a homeless “knight of the open road” — yelled obscenities at the driver. The car stopped immediately. Two masked men exited quickly, bearing straight for the scruffy man, who threw a traffic cone at them. I began to think about finding cover, but the two joyriders went back to their car and pulled out of the square.
We were all a bit unsettled. The three of us shook our heads and extended handshakes. With jangled nerves, we attempted to segue into a pleasant game of catch.
Ethan’s 365-day journey spanned 10 states and 12,000 miles. Along the way, he played catch and heard stories from athletes, nurses, journalists, musicians, teachers, entrepreneurs, and more. He found connections in playing catch and preaches the power of play to find joy in simple things, and even to transform lives. Ethan’s book chronicling his year-long road trip, A Year of Playing Catch, is his fourth book about baseball and life.
Ethan had brought a couple of glove options for me, and we were soon tossing the ball — me talking about our road trips and him telling me about his work with Leadership Springfield, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing leaders for community service. I felt the anxieties of schedules and itineraries melt away, leaving me in the moment to connect, sending the ball back and forth, sharing my story and hearing his, back and forth, back and forth.
We said our goodbyes and left the square for our hotel with plenty of time for Dad to have a deluxe nap before the ballgame.