Crab Rangoon

June 12th, 2011 | Chinese, Chinese Recipes | 15 Comments

Crab Rangoon pictures (1 of 5)

Crab Rangoon is an appetizer found in many Chinese restaurants in the United States. A classic American creation, crab rangoon is basically fried wonton filled with cream cheese with tiny bits of crab meat.

I first encountered Crab Rangoon at a Chinese restaurant in the Midwest, when I was pursuing my Master’s Degree. The restaurant serves typical American-Chinese fare; the daily all-you-can-eat buffet is a huge hit with the lunch crowd. Crab rangoon is one of the items on the buffet menu, other than the regular sweet and sour pork, fried rice, chow mein, etc. As a poor international student starved of Chinese food, having Chinese all-you-can-eat-buffet was the most anticipated event during the weekends…

Most recently, I came across crab rangoon in a Thai restaurant here in Orange County and it immediately transported me back to my college days in the Midwest.  Here is my crab rangoon recipe, based on the taste memory from many years ago. Enjoy!

Crab Rangoon Recipe
Makes 20 

Ingredients:

1 brick (8 oz) Kraft Philadelphia Regular Cream Cheese, at room temperature
2 oz crab meat or 2 sticks imitation crab meat (finely diced)
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
20 wonton wrappers
Oil, for deep frying

Method:

Mix all the cream cheese, crab meat, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Stir to blend well.

Place about 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese filling in the middle of a wonton wrapper.

Fold the two ends of the wonton wrapper together.

Fold the other two ends to make a tiny parcel. Pinch to seal tight and make sure that there is no leakage. Use a little water to help sealing if needed.

Heat up a pot of oil for deep-frying and fry the crab rangoon until golden brown. Dish out with a strainer or slotted spoon, draining the excess oil by laying the crab rangoon on a dish lined with paper towels. Let the crab rangoon cools down a bit before serving them with sweet and sour sauce.

Cook’s Notes:

Use real crab meat if possible. My crab rangoon is based on the version I had in Chinese buffet restaurants, with imitation crab meat.Don’t serve the crab rangoon immediately after deep-frying as the filling will be too hot!To make the sweet and sour sauce, please refer to my sweet and sour pork recipe.

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