Embracing Crab Rangoon
Hsiao-Ching Chou
Author's Note: For the month of November, I am participating in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month) and pledge to post once a day. I'm taking this opportunity to articulate some thoughts about my Chinese Soul Food cookbook, which I'm planning to self publish.
For many years, my parents resisted offering "crab rangoon" on the menu of our Chinese restaurant. But we were in Columbia, Missouri, and if you didn't serve what customers wanted, they would turn around and walk out. We didn't know what crab rangoon was: Cream cheese and imitation "krab" meat were not among our staple foods, alas. But we figured it out and finally added it to the menu. They sold like hot cakes – or hot, melted cheese in a wonton shell.
CRAB RANGOON
Makes About 20
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese
¼ cup crab meat
Salt and white pepper to taste
Wonton wrappers
Vegetable oil for frying
Combine the cream cheese, crab meat, salt and white pepper to taste in a bowl. Mix well. Place about 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle of a wonton wrapper. Set the wonton skin on the counter with a corner pointing toward you. Find the mid-point of each straight side. Bring all four the points to the middle and then pressing them down into the cream cheese filling. The cheese helps to secure the wrapper. (See diagram.)
Heat frying oil to 325 degrees. When the oil is to temperature, fry the crab rangoons in batches until golden. Drain on a paper towel. Serve with sweet and sour sauce.
SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE
Makes about 1 cup
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup white vinegar
Combine ingredients in a small pot over medium heat. Stir ingredients until sugar dissolves and sauce becomes syrupy and slightly thickened. Taste. Add a little sugar, if desired. Or let cool and serve.