Oven Fried Crab Rangoon
A savory and delicious cream cheese and crab mixture wrapped inside a won ton wrapper and oven fried crispy. Served with Chinese Mustard and Sweet & Sour Sauce.
Crab Rangoon is not a Chinese invention. It's not from Southeast Asia, either, as one might assume from the name. "Rangoon" refers to the old name for "Yangon" with is the largest city in the country formerly known as Burma, now called Myanmar.
Trader Vic’s Created Crab Rangoon
The dish is strictly an American invention, most often attributed to the Polynesian-themed restaurant chain, Trader Vic's, which also invented the Mai Tai cocktail and the dish Coconut Shrimp. It was founded in 1934 in Oakland, California and while there are 25 Trader Vic's restaurants left in the world, the only remaining one in the US is in Miami Beach. I remember dining at the Trader Vic's in Houston in the '70s, which was located in the lobby of the Shamrock Hilton hotel. The restaurant closed in 1985 a year before the hotel itself was torn down.
Looks Complicated, But It Really Isn’t
This recipe originally was posted on an unknown website visited by my Number One Fan called, "Baked Cream Cheese Won-tons" and they were made with shrimp. When I read it, I realized this was an amended version of the classic appetizer I had seen on countless Chinese restaurant menus, Crab Rangoon. I was intrigued with the oven baking process since deep frying anything in my kitchen is difficult, time-consuming and messy. The technique for making the unique pyramid shape looks hard, but is really quite simple to do.
You will need a combination of both sweet and heat in the dipping sauce for these delicious hors d’oeuvres. Any fruit jam or marmalade will do, paired with Chinese hot mustard or prepared Coleman’s English Mustard. Or, buy a jar of Chinese prepared sweet and sour sauce, like La Choy or Kikkoman.
Normally, I do not prescribe the use of crab meat that comes in a tin can that has been sitting on a grocery store shelf at room temperature. I prefer instead using lump crab meat that is refrigerated and packaged in see-through containers, like Phillip’s Premium Lump Crab. But because of the seasoning, the won-ton wrapper and oven frying method this recipe employs, it isn’t necessary to go to the extra expense of buying the premium brand, and a canned crab meat works just fine for this dish.
Oven Fried Crab Rangoon
Ingredients
- 1 5- 1/2 ounce can of crab meat (like, Chicken of the Sea or Bumble Bee)
- 1 cup whipped cream cheese (like, Philadelphia)
- 18 won ton wrappers (like, Dynasty)
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp minced jarred or fresh ginger
- 2 green onions, sliced very thin
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 egg
- pinch fine sea salt
- 4-5 grinds freshly cracked black pepper
- shot of Sriracha sauce (like, Huy Fong)
- non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)
- hot Chinese mustard or prepared English mustard (like, Coleman's) for dipping
- prepared Chinese sweet & sour sauce (like, La Choy or Kikkoman) for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Lightly spray a sheet pan or baking sheet with the non-stick spray.
- Drain the can of crab meat well by leaving the lid in place after opening and squeezing it against the contents to drain off as much water as possible. Then, place the drained crab meat in a paper towel and compress it to remove any additional water. It's important to have your crab meat is dry as possible.
- Mix the crab, cream cheese, garlic, ginger, green onions, sesame oil, salt, pepper and Sriracha sauce in a mixing bowl and stir well to combine.
- Beat the egg in a small bowl until well blended and set aside.
- To assemble the Rangoon, place a won ton wrapper on a flat work surface and spoon in about a teaspoon of the crab mixture in the center.
- Dip your finger into the egg wash and rub all four edges of the won ton wrapper with the egg. This will serve as a glue to turn your won-ton into a Rangoon.
- Fold all sides of the won ton over the filling to create an 'X', pinching the four edges to seal.
- Place the won tons in a single layer on the baking sheet and coat them with a light application of the non-stick cooking spray.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven 10-12 minutes until the won tons are brown and crisp.
- Serve hot with the mustard and sweet & sour sauce on the side.
