Crab Rangoon

Let's be honest: the best part of Chinese food is the lo mein, but the second best part is the crab rangoons.  Preferably doused in insane amounts of soy sauce, they are crunchy, creamy, and delicious.  And deep-fried, unhealthy, and probably not actually containing any crab whatsoever.  It was time to find out what a real crab rangoon can taste like, made with real crab, and baked, not fried.

The night that I made the steamed vegetarian dumplings, Kenzie had requested crab rangoons as well.  I figured it would be a nice night to make two different types of dumplings, so I had her pick up the ingredients for that as well.  I even used the same wonton wrappers for both recipes.

The creamy filling is made up of a mixture of cream cheese and sour cream.  The flavoring is scallions, garlic, fresh ginger, soy sauce, and a little sugar.  And then of course there is the crab.  We used a can of crab, since you only need 1/2 cup .  I couldn't help but notice that this crab meat was all white, whereas the tiny specks of "crab" that you find in Chinese restaurant rangoons are pinkish red, but hey, whatever!

If you make these, be careful about pressing all the air bubbles out of the wonton wrappers when you wrap them; bubbles make them split open when they are baking!  I had quite a few do this.  Ah well!

The end results were mixed, based on who you talk to.  Maggie was here that night, and she raved about the crab rangoons.  She voted that they were way better than the steamed vegetable dumplings.  However, everyone else's votes were for the dumplings.  The rangoons were good, don't get me wrong; the ginger and scallions were a great flavor combination, but I think my family doesn't actually like crab.  And these are definitely way more "crabby" than the crab rangoons you get at restaurants.  Kenzie kept saying they tasted way too much like crab, which I think is probably the point, but perhaps for the Tucker family, fake crab is best!  If, however, you know you like crab, then I'd definitely suggset making these.  They are fast and easy, and a rather impressive alternative to running out of the house for takeout :)

Recipe:

baked crab rangoons
from Tracy's Culinary Adventures, originally adapted from Food.com (via Iowa Girl Eats)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons sour cream (light is fine)
8 oz cream cheese, softened (reduced fat is okay too)
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup crab meat, drained
wonton wrappers

1) Preheat oven to 415 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

2) In a medium bowl, mix the sour cream, cream cheese, scallion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and sugar together until well combined. Fold in the crab meat.

3) Lay a wonton wrapper on your work surface. Place about 2 teaspoons of the filling mixture in the center of the wrapper, then brush two adjacent sides of the wrapper lightly with water. Fold the wrapper over on the diagonal. Press around the filling to remove air pockets, then press the sides to seal the wrapper tightly. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

4) Spray the tops of the wonton wrappers lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and crisp.  Serve with soy sauce, or sauce of choice.

Makes 20-24