Chef John's Crab Rangoon

While not 'authentic,' these crispy crab and cream cheese wontons are one of the most addictive, delicious, and crowd-pleasing appetizers ever created. That is, if the filling has enough crab in it. I'm using a 1 to 1 ratio of crab to cream cheese.

• Preparation Time: 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 3 mins
• Total Time: 33 mins
• Calories: 590 Calories

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• ⅓ cup chopped green onions
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• ¼ teaspoon sesame oil
• ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
• canola oil for frying
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce, or to taste
• 8 ounces crab meat, drained well
• ½ teaspoon fish sauce
• 60 (3.5 inch square) wonton wrappers

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Mix cream cheese, crab meat, green onions, garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, sesame oil, and cayenne pepper together with a fork until ingredients are blended thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, 1 or 2 hours.

Step 2

Keep wonton wrappers moist by covering with a damp paper towel. Place a small bowl of water nearby on the work surface. With a wet fingertip, moisten surface of wonton. Place 1 1/2 teaspoons of crab filling in center of wonton. Fold 2 opposite corners toward each other over the filling but without touching tips together yet. Fold up the other 2 corners. Working gently from the bottom, squeeze out any air bubbles; pinch together the 4 seams from the bottom up to create a modified pyramid (or "warhead") shape. Place on a dry surface. Continue with remaining wontons.

Step 3

Heat oil in deep fryer to 350 degrees F. Fry wontons in batches until golden brown and crispy, gently moving them around in the oil with a strainer to brown each surface, about 3 minutes. Let cool about a minute before eating. Serve with the dipping sauce.

Step 4

Whisk ketchup, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and sriracha sauce together in a bowl for the dipping sauce.