Crab Rangoon facts for kids
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| Type | Dumpling |
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| Course | Appetizer |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Main ingredients | Wonton, cream cheese, crab meat or imitation crab meat, scallions, garlic |
| Crab Rangoon | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 蟹角 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Crab horn | ||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 炸蟹角 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Fried crab horn | ||||||||||
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| Second alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 蟹仰光 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Crab Rangoon | ||||||||||
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Crab Rangoon, sometimes called crab puffs, crab rangoon puffs, or cheese wontons, are filled crisp dumpling appetizers served primarily in American Chinese restaurants.
Contents
Preparation
The filling is made with a combination of cream cheese, crab meat or imitation crab meat, scallions or onion, garlic, and other flavorings. A small amount of the filling is wrapped in each Chinese wonton wrapper. The dumpling is then shaped by folding the wrapper over into a triangle, by creating a four-pointed star, by gathering it up into flower or purse shape, or by twisting it into the traditional wonton shape.
The appetizers are cooked to crispness by deep-frying in vegetable oil or by baking. They can be served hot or cold. In North America, crab Rangoon is often served with a sauce for dipping: either soy sauce, plum sauce, duck sauce, sweet and sour sauce, or hot Chinese mustard.
History
Crab Rangoon was on the menu of the "Polynesian-style" restaurant Trader Vic's in San Francisco since at least 1956. Although the appetizer is allegedly derived from an authentic Burmese recipe, the dish was probably invented in the United States by Victor Bergeron, founder of Trader Vic's. A "Rangoon crab a la Jack" was mentioned as a dish at a Hawaiian-style party in 1952, but without further detail, and so may or may not be the same thing. There is additional evidence that Wayne Schmidt helped commercially develop the dish as a popular appetizer in the Midwest in the early 1980s.
Though the history of Crab Rangoon is unclear, cream cheese—like other cheese—is mostly nonexistent in Southeast Asian and Chinese cuisine, so it is unlikely that the dish is actually of east or southeast Asian origin.
Names
They may be referred to as crab pillows, crab cheese wontons, or cheese wontons.
In the Pacific Northwest states of the US, crab Rangoon are also known as crab puffs, although this primarily refers to versions that use puff pastry as a wrapper instead of wonton.
Gallery
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Triangular fried Crab Rangoons
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In the wonton shape, surrounded by dipping sauces
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Inside, showing the crisp shell, white filling, and golden dipping sauce.
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