I can’t seem to get enough of the Hot and Sour Wontons at Mosa Asian Bistro. That’s why I visited the restaurant on two consecutive mid 90-degree evenings this week for an order of these amazingly tasty dumplings.
According to the menu, they are “marinated chicken and vegetables in wonton wrap, steamed, tossed in a spicy garlic sauce.”
They’re not fried. And they don’t contain red meat. So, they must be healthier than grabbing something like a hamburger two nights in a row.
I asked owner Eddie Pao how this dish, which is on the menu’s “Starters and Small Plates” list, came to be.
They originally served pork wontons in their wonton soup, Pao says. Then, he says, people began eating less meat. So, he used shrimp as well as pork in the same wontons.
Then, he says, “I read a lot in medical magazines that chicken meat is more healthy. So, I think, ‘Let me use chicken breast.’”
He ground together chicken breast with garlic, green onion, and cabbage. “Then I put in some cornstarch and made it sticky, sesame oil, black pepper, and mixed it together with some soy sauce.”
Pao is proud to say, “Memphis customers gave me the idea how to make it.”
That was 10 years ago, he says. Customers get six wontons per order. I order that plus a cup or a bowl of Mosa’s hot and sour soup, which is the best hot and sour soup I’ve ever had.
Michelle Pao-Levine, Pao’s daughter, likes to order rice with her wontons, so she can soak up all the juice. I did the same.
And, if you order the wonton soup, you get the chicken wontons, but they’re a little smaller because that makes it faster to cook the soup, says Alex Pao, Eddie’s son.
But as for the pork and shrimp wontons, “They’re no longer here,” Alex says.
Mosa Asian Bistro is at 850 South White Station. They have dine-in, take-out, and catering. (901) 683-8889.
