Crab Rangoon

This homemade crab rangoon recipe has crispy cream cheese wontons filled with crab meat. It’s a popular appetizer at most Chinese restaurants. Serve with a sweet and sour sauce, and you’ve got a crowd-pleasing starter!

Whenever our family goes out to our favorite local Chinese restaurant, crab rangoon is a very tempting option when scanning the starters. There’s something delightful about the contrast of rich, creamy seafood filling embedded in a crunchy deep-fried shell crust that makes for a fun and fancy culinary experience. Thankfully, making these appetizers at home is relatively easy!

The filling is a simple blend of chopped crab, cream cheese, chives, salt, and pepper. The folding technique is critical to keep the tasty filling locked into each wonton. But don’t worry, I’ll show you my step-by-step method. Frying the wontons briefly until golden brown ensures the most crackling exterior. Serve these edible bundles with sweet and sour sauce, and watch them disappear!

What ingredients are used in crab rangoon filling?

I use canned crab meat that is refrigerated at most grocery stores and specialty Asian markets. Imitation crab meat can also be substituted, a cured surimi or cooked seafood paste that is more affordable than real crab meat and is often used in California rolls. Just make sure to chop it into smaller pieces if using the imitation.

Cream cheese is added as a rich dairy base for the filling, along with chopped chives (or green onions), salt, and pepper for seasoning. Mix the filling ingredients by hand until thoroughly mixed, or toss everything into a stand mixer for a faster blending option.

How do you make crab rangoon?

• Mix ingredients for crab and cheese filling.
• Add filling to the center of each wonton.
• Brush the edges of the wonton with water for stickiness.
• Fold and press wonton together to create a purse shape.
• Deep-fry crab rangoons until golden brown in color and crispy.

Crab rangoon is not a traditional Chinese recipe, as dairy products are seldom used, but it has gained popularity in American Chinese restaurants. I serve them with my homemade sweet and sour sauce, a must-have condiment. The tangy sauce brings out the flavor of the crab filling. These crab and cream cheese-filled wontons can also be made ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen for a quick appetizer.

How do you shape crab rangoon?

The recipe uses square wonton wrappers, 3 ½ x 3 ½-inch in size, which fits 1 tablespoon of filling. If you find it challenging to fold or want less, 2 teaspoons also work well. The wrappers have a light dusting of cornstarch on the outside, which helps to seal the edges when brushed with water.

Bring all four corners to the center for a purse shape, then press the adjacent edges together to seal. Remove any excess air from the inside, so the shape and filling stay intact during the frying process. Other folds, like a simple triangle or tortellini-style, as I use for my wonton soup, also look nice.

How do you fry the filled wontons?

Deep frying is the best way to cook crab rangoons. Cooking in a generous amount of oil allows the wontons to submerge and cook evenly and thoroughly. This can be done in a large pot or wok. A high smoke point oil like canola or vegetable should be maintained between 350 to 375ºF (177 to 191ºC). It only takes a minute or so for the wontons to become super crisp and golden brown.

I work in small batches of about 4 at a time, so it’s easy to monitor the cooking process. I like to use a metal spyder to push the wontons down into the oil to submerge them completely. Since the filling is not raw, the color change of the wontons is the primary concern and best indicator of when they’re ready to be removed from the oil. Keep a close eye on the pot. They cook fast!

More Chinese recipes

• Kung Pao Chicken
• Egg Rolls
• Turkey Lettuce Wraps