Crab Rangoon is a very famous Chinese snack made with a cream cheese and crab meat filling filled inside wonton wrappers and then deep-fried. Here is how to make these.
Here are some Chinese Recipes, that you can make for your weekend meals – Egg Foo Young, Chinese Hot, and Sour Soup, Chinese Spring Rolls, Indo Chinese Chilli Chicken, Darsaan, and Mushroom Stuffed Buns.
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About This Recipe
Loaded with a delicious filling of soft cream cheese and the goodness of crab meat, this Crab Rangoon makes for a great party starter.
These crispy fried wontons taste great when they are hot and served along with a spicy and sweet dipping sauce and a side of spring onions. Make sure you make extra and store in the fridge, as your guests will not stop at one.
This popular appetizer is actually a fusion Chinese American recipe, as it contains cream cheese, an ingredient that doesn’t exist in Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisine.
You can even bake these wontons to give it a healthier twist, but if you want that restaurant-style crispiness and texture, you have to deep fry them.
I generally prefer to deep fry my wontons as it gives the wontons a deep golden brown color and crunch that can’t exactly be replicated in the oven. One serving of crab rangoon, that is 2-3 pieces have 206 calories which are actually for the occasional indulgence.
These Crab Rangoons are,
- Crispy & Crunchy
- A favorite takeout
- Addictive
- Perfect for Starters
History
While you find these Crab Rangoon in an Asian restaurant and is derived from an authentic Burmese recipe, these were probably invented in the United States.
Therefore, these cheese wontons are actually American Chinese and nowadays also served in Thai restaurants.
It is said that these were a part of the menu of a Polynesian Style restaurant from 1956 that was run by a restaurant trader Vic’s.
During my visit to the US, while exploring various places of the country, I found that Crab Rangoon was bought by many individuals from the Chinese food joints.
Some of the kind people there also told me that it is their favourite appetiser and savouring it cheers them up after a demanding day!
Ingredients
Crab Meat – Traditionally, the Rangoon is made with only crab meat that is flavored with minimal spices. You can use store-bought crab sticks to make this starter.
I have used imitation crab meat as that’s what is available easily in Indian. But you can definitely use fresh meat if you wish to.
If you can’t find fresh crab meat at your local grocery store’s seafood counter, you can always use frozen crab meat for this recipe too.
Cream Cheese – Cream Cheese gives it a creamy texture and also makes it a fusion starter, as traditionally cream cheese is not used in the Crab Rangoon.
Sauce – When it comes to sauce, we will use only two – Dark Soy Sauce and Fish Sauce.
Garlic – Garlic is one of my favorite ingredients when it comes to Asian cooking. You should not give it a miss.
Other Ingredients – We will also use white pepper powder, sesame oil, cayenne pepper, salt, spring onions, and cilantro to further enhance the flavor of the filling.
Wonton Wrappers – The outer layer is made with wonton wrappers, that are easily available in the market. And if you have some time in your hand, then you can always make these Wonton Wrappers at home from scratch.
Slurry – Flour is mixed with water to make a slurry, that is used to make Crab Rangoon.
Step by Step Recipe
Mix all purpose flour and water in a bowl and keep aside.
Mix crab meat, cream cheese, spring onion greens, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, white pepper powder, sesame oil, cayenne pepper, and salt to taste in another bowl.
Lay a wonton wrapper on the work surface.
Apply the flour and water mixture on all the sides.
Keep a small portion of crab filling (2 tsp) in the center and bring the ends together to make a triangle.
Again apply some flour and water mixture on the closed-end and bring the ends together to fold the wonton.
Make all the rangoons in the same manner.
Heat oil for frying in a pan. Deep fry the rangoons on medium heat until golden brown. Drain on a plate lined with kitchen tissue. Serve immediately with some sweet and spicy sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Crab Cheese Rangoon tastes best when served fresh after deep frying or baking them with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce.
If you need to reheat them up, place wontons on a baking sheet, preheat the oven to 150º Celsius and bake for 5 minutes.
In case you have an air fryer, you can also place your crab rangoon in there for a few minutes to crisp up.
Fried Wonton is a Chinese appetizer where wonton wrappers are filled with any type of flavored meat, whereas Crab Rangoon is a type of Fried Wonton which is stuffed with Crab Meat and Cream Cheese. You can even use Pasta sheets instead of Wonton Wrappers.
You can experiment with the way you want to fold your wontons. I just fill a small portion of crab and cream cheese filling in the center and bring the ends together to make a rectangle.
Put some flour and water mixture on the edges so that it sticks to each other. It’s very easy to shape them like this, looks nice and you can fit a lot of filling into this shape.
Crab Rangoon is traditionally fried, but if you are looking to avoid the excess oil, you can bake them instead. Bake your rangoon at 200 degrees Celsius for about 12-15 minutes.
But let me tell you, you won’t get that same crunchy texture, as you will get in the deep-fried one. But it is always good to serve on a few calories.
You can also make these in Air Fryer with minimal or no oil.
These are great for parties, as you can make them much in advance. You can fill the wontons 4 hours in advance, store them loosely covered in the fridge until you want to serve them.
You can fry or bake frozen wontons at the time when you are planning to serve it for your parties or weekend meals.
If you are looking for a gluten-free version, then you can use gluten-free flour instead of the usual one.
Serving Suggestions
These delicious crispy wontons are served along with a delicious Asian dipping sauce that is made with the combination of Tomato ketchup, Sriracha hot sauce, Rice vinegar, and Brown Sugar.
Mix everything properly and your dipping sauce is ready to enjoy with Crab Rangoon.
These can be served as an appetizer with your favorite dips such as Schezwan Sauce, Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce, or even Mango Chilli Sauce.
You can also serve it as a side dish with your favorite Chinese and Asian gravies, Noodles, and Rice.
Storage Suggestions
Store the fried or Baked Crab Rangoon in the fridge for about 2-3 days in an airtight container. Reheat them before serving.
You can assemble the Crab Rangoon and then freeze them. Make these Crab Rangoons, and freeze them in a tray for about 4 to 5 hours.
After 4 to 5 hours, transfer the frozen crab rangoon in a freezer safe ziplock bag.
Just before you want to serve these, thaw on the counter for 30 minutes and then deep fry or bake.
Recipe Card
Crab Rangoon Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp All Purpose Flour
- 4 tbsp Water
- 20-25 Wonton Wrappers
- 250 g Crab Meat
- 150 g Cream Cheese
- 3 tbsp Spring Onion Greens (Chopped)
- 2 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 1/2 tsp Fish Sauce
- 3-4 cloves Garlic (Grated)
- 1/2 tsp White Pepper Powder
- 1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil
- 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Mix all purpose flour and water in a bowl and keep aside.
- Mix crab meat, cream cheese, spring onion greens, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, white pepper powder, sesame oil, cayenne pepper and salt in another bowl.
- Lay a wonton wrapper on the work surface.
- Apply the flour and water mixture on all the sides.
- Keep small portion of crab filling in the center and bring the ends together to make a triangle.
- Again apply some flour and water mixture on the closed end and bring the ends together to fold the wonton.
- Make all the rangoons in the same manner.
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Deep fry the rangoons till golden brown.
- Drain on a plate lined with kitchen tissue.
- Serve immediately with some sweet and spicy sauce.
Notes
swapna
Awesome work neha….I had tried the veg baked version of this..it taste yummy.so can we bake this too?
msnehamathur
Thnx Swapna. I am sure you can but I have not tried it myself.