Harvest Moon Chinese Restaurant in Oro Valley has a new name and a new mission.
Chef owner Wanda Zhang changed the name of her restaurant to WandaZ last week to coincide with her decision to return to cooking Chinese food as you would find it in China.
Gone is the fast-food Chinese ethos that permeates Americanized Chinese cuisine — sweet-and-sour and deep-fried everything — replaced with fried rice made with brown rice and quinoa sauteéd in vegetable oil. Veggies outnumber thick and sweet sauces on the menu and there’s a hint of French cooking technique to everything that comes from the kitchen.
“Basically I do not like people thinking Chinese food is unhealthy,” Zhang said.
Zhang dubs her new direction “multicultural slim cuisine” with an emphasis on gluten-free and vegetarian. Don’t be mistaken: meat and chicken are well represented in dishes including the Mongolian stir fry is prepared with steak, shrimp or chicken and a spicy brown rice. The same protein options are central to the wok-tossed ginger-kissed scallions and ginger dishs as well as the hot and spicy featuring what Zhang describes as a “tongue-numbing” Szechuan hot sauce.
There are only a couple dishes on the menu that employ the deep fry, including orange sake-style chicken, pork or shrimp; and a deep-fried shrimp (or chicken) glazed in a sweet honey sauce.
Entrees start at $12.99 and go as high as $24.99 for duck confit.
WandaZ, 12125 N. Oracle Road, off Tangerine Road in the Oro Valley Marketplace, will hold a grand opening celebration May 23. It’s open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
