 | |
| Type | Dumpling |
|---|---|
| Course | Appetizer |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Main ingredients | Wonton wrapper, cream cheese, crab meatorimitation crab meat, scallions, garlic |
| Crab Rangoon | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 蟹角 | ||||||||||
| Hanyu Pinyin | xiè jiǎo | ||||||||||
| Cantonese Yale | háaih gok | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Crab horn | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 炸蟹角 | ||||||||||
| Hanyu Pinyin | zhǎ xiè jiǎo | ||||||||||
| Cantonese Yale | ja háaih gok | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Fried crab horn | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Second alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 蟹仰光 | ||||||||||
| Hanyu Pinyin | xiè yǎng guāng | ||||||||||
| Cantonese Yale | háaih yéuhng gwōng | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Crab Rangoon | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Crab Rangoon, sometimes called crab puffs,[1] crab rangoon puffs, cheese wontons, or cream cheese rangoons,[2] are filled crisp dumpling appetizers[3] served primarily in American Chinese restaurants.[1][2]
The filling is made with a combination of cream cheese, crab meatorimitation crab meat, scallionsoronion, garlic, and other flavorings.[3][4][5][6] A small amount of the filling is wrapped in each wonton wrapper. The dumpling is then shaped by either folding the wrapper over into a triangle,[1][3][7][8][9] by creating a four-pointed star,[1][2] by gathering it up into a flower or purse shape,[1][5] or by twisting it into the traditional wonton shape.[6]
The appetizers are cooked to crispness by deep-fryinginvegetable oil or by baking.[3][4][5] They can be served hot or cold.[3][5] In North America, crab rangoon is often served with a sauce for dipping such as soy sauce,[6][10] plum sauce,[11] duck sauce,[10][12] sweet and sour sauce,[1][4][7][10] or a hot mustard sauce.[8][13]
Crab rangoon was on the menu of the "Polynesian-style" restaurant Trader Vic's in Beverly Hills in 1955[14] and in San Francisco since at least 1956.[15][16][17] Although the appetizer has the name of the Burmese city of Rangoon, now known by Burmese as 'Yangon',[18] the dish was probably invented in the United States by Chinese-American chef Joe Young working under Victor Bergeron, founder of Trader Vic's.[19][20][18] 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.[21]
Although cream cheese was a staple of 1940s and 1950s American cuisine, it is not found in Chinese or Burmese cuisine.[18][22]
They may be referred to as crab puffs, crab pillows, crab cheese wontons, or cheese wontons.
Food portalNotes: Serve with reduced-sodium soy sauce mixed with chopped scallions or prepared sweet-and-sour or duck sauce, if desired. Just make sure to account for any increase in SmartPoints values.
Hand-Folded Crab Wontons » Creamy crab filling, bell pepper, green onion, spicy plum sauce
Victor Bergeron, or The Trader, as he is affectionately known to thousand of San Franciscans, opened his first restaurant in Oakland in 1934... The traditional beginning for any meal at Trader Vic's is barbecued spareribs, cooked to a king's taste in a 550°F Chinese oven. These may be taken with your before-dinner cocktail and an be varied with Cosmo Tidbits (fried shrimp, spareribs, crab rangoon, sliced pork) or Malayan Tidbits (Rumaki, cheese balls, curry puffs).
Anyhow, Abe has become a gourmet. An epicure, no less... For the entree, there's the wiener schnitzel at the Frankfurt Hof in Frankfort; the incomparable roast beef at Toots Shor's; the Cornish game hen at Ernie's in San Francisco and the Crab Rangoon at Trader Vic's in Oakland...
