Crab Rangoon at the Kitchen Table
Crab rangoon is one of those foods that makes very little sense if you think about it too hard. Cream cheese is hardly a traditional Chinese ingredient, and the familiar fried wonton is much more a product of the American Chinese restaurant than anything you would have encountered in China.
None of that matters much when a plate of them hits the table.
What I wanted at home was the version I actually like at a Chinese restaurant: a crisp, blistered wonton shell surrounding a generous filling where you can taste crab, not just sweetened cream cheese. That last part became important while working out the recipe.
A lot of crab rangoon recipes lean heavily toward cream cheese and add sugar to the filling. I went the other direction. Eight ounces of real claw crab and eight ounces of cream cheese turned out to be about right. The one-to-one ratio gives the filling plenty of richness while leaving no doubt that there's crab in it. I also leave the sugar out entirely.
There were a couple of lessons in making them.
The first was surprisingly simple: season the crab before adding the cream cheese. Rinse the crab if necessary, drain and press it quite dry, then tear or chop it into smaller pieces. Mix the crab with the scallion, Worcestershire, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper. Only then fold in the softened cream cheese. Trying to distribute all those seasonings through a block of relatively stiff cream cheese makes considerably more work out of the job.
The second lesson involved the Dutch oven.
On one batch, the first rangoons went into properly heated oil and came out crisp. As more went in, the temperature of the oil plunged. The later ones browned eventually, but the wrappers had become noticeably chewier.
That makes the thermometer almost as important as the ingredients. I now bring the oil a little above the intended frying temperature—about 365–370°F—before adding a small batch. Once the rangoons go in, I want the oil to settle around 350–360°F, not continue falling. Three or four at a time is plenty.
They're finished when the wrappers are deeply golden and blistered, usually after only two or three minutes. At that point, there isn't much reason to complicate things. Put them on a rack to drain, bring the oil back to temperature and fry the next batch.
Serve them hot with sweet chili or duck sauce. They're rich, crisp, a little messy, and considerably better when the crab isn't merely a supporting character.
Crab Rangoon
Makes about 25–30
Ingredients
- 8 oz real claw crabmeat
- 8 oz block cream cheese, softened
- 2 scallions, finely sliced
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 25–30 wonton wrappers
- Canola oil, for frying
- Water, for sealing the wrappers
- Sweet chili sauce or duck sauce, for serving
Salt usually isn't necessary; taste the filling before adding any.
Method
Rinse the crab if needed, then drain it thoroughly and press out excess moisture. Tear or chop the crab into relatively small pieces.
Combine the crab, scallions, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper. Mix gently so the crab remains recognizable rather than becoming a paste.
Add the softened cream cheese and fold everything together until evenly combined. The filling can be refrigerated for a couple of hours at this point.
When ready to fry, place a wonton wrapper on the work surface and add about 1½–2 teaspoons of filling. Lightly wet the edges with water. Fold the wrapper into a triangle, press the air outward from around the filling, and firmly seal the edges. Don't overfill them.
Pour about 2–3 inches of canola oil into a heavy Dutch oven. Heat the oil to approximately 365–370°F.
Fry only 3 or 4 rangoons at a time, allowing the oil to settle into the 350–360°F range. Fry for approximately 2–3 minutes, turning as necessary, until the wrappers are deeply golden and blistered.
Remove to a wire rack and allow the oil to return to temperature before adding the next batch.
Serve immediately with sweet chili sauce or duck sauce.