Easy Homemade Crab Rangoon
- PREP 30min
- COOK 15min
- TOTAL 45min
Crab Rangoon are absolutely delightful, and thanks to our easy recipe, you can make them at home. They are crispy fried wontons filled with crab meat and cream cheese. I love how well the light and crunchy wonton shells compliment the creamy crab filling. When frying, keep the following tips in mind: (1) When folding the wontons, press as much air out of the inside as you can and ensure you seal them so they do not open in the hot oil. (2) Use a deep saucepan, but fill only by a couple of inches. Do not completely fill the pot with oil. Instead, leave plenty of room for the oil to splutter as the wontons fry. (3) Fry in batches
You Will Need
Crab Rangoon
8 ounces fresh or pasteurized crab meat, see tips below
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 green onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons finely diced red bell pepper
1 small clove garlic, grated on a microplane or finely minced
1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
26 wonton wrappers
Peanut oil or vegetable oil, for frying
Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce
2 tablespoons Sambal Oelek chili paste (we use Huy Fong)
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice wine vinegar
Directions
Make Filling
Place the crab meat into a colander and let drain for five minutes. Pick through the crab meat for any rogue shells.
In a medium bowl, stir the cream cheese, green onion, bell pepper, garlic, and soy sauce. Fold in the crab meat. Make-ahead: Store filling in an air-tight container for up to three days.
Fold Wontons
Lay a few wontons out on a clean work surface. Keep the rest under a damp towel or plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
Make an egg wash by whisking one egg with a tablespoon of water. You can substitute the egg wash for plain water, but we like how well egg wash seals the edges of the wonton.
Place one teaspoon of the cream cheese filling in the middle of each wonton. Moisten the edges with the egg wash, then fold into a triangle, pushing as much air out of the middle as possible. Moisten one of the corners of the triangle, and then bring the two corners together, overlapping the moistened corner on top of the other corner and pressing to seal to make a little envelope. Watch us do this in our video.
Transfer to a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining wontons — this recipe typically makes two dozen.
Cook Wontons
Make the dipping sauce: Combine chili paste, sugar, and rice wine vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and set aside for serving. If needed, reheat the sauce after frying the wontons.
Heat oil in a deep saucepan to 350°F (175°C) as registered on an instant-read thermometer. Carefully add 5 to 6 wontons to the oil. Cook, adjusting the heat to maintain temperature. Use a wire mesh spider to flip them in the oil.
When the wontons look crisp and golden brown, carefully transfer them to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Repeat with remaining wontons. Serve with sweet and sour dipping sauce.
To keep the wontons warm and crisp while you finish the remaining batches, place the fried wontons on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet in a 200° Fahrenheit (90°C) oven.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Crab meat substitute: You can use 8 ounces imitation crab meat (surimi), cut into 1/2-inch pieces.
- Baking and Air Fryer: For the best results, we recommend frying these cream cheese wontons, however, baking and air frying instructions are provided in the article.
- Oil: After frying the wontons, allow the oil to cool completely (this takes a while), and then save it for using another day. I use a fine mesh strainer to remove any bits left from frying the wontons and then place it back into the bottle.
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values. Nutrition is difficult with fried foods, because we have no way of determining how much oil is absorbed into the wontons. So we have provided nutrition for everything, but the oil. We realize this isn’t the most helpful, but without a laboratory, it is the best we can do.
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