Crab Rangoon
Crab Rangoon, sometimes called crab puffs, crab rangoon puffs, or cheese wontons, are filled crisp dumpling appetizers served primarily in American Chinese restaurants. Preparation. The filling is made with a combination of cream cheese, crab meat or imitation crab meat, scallions or onion, garlic, and other flavorings. A small amount of the filling is wrapped in each Chinese wonton wrapper. The dumpling is then shaped by either folding the wrapper over into a triangle, by creating a four-pointed star, by gathering it up into a flower or purse shape, or by twisting it into the traditional wonton  shape. The appetizers are cooked to crispness by deep-frying in vegetable oil or by baking. They can be served hot or cold. In North America, Crab Rangoon is often served with a sauce for dipping such as soy sauce, plum sauce, duck sauce, sweet and sour sauce, or hot Chinese mustard. History. Crab Rangoon was on the menu of the "Polynesian-style" restaurant Trader Vic's in San Francisco since at least 1956. Although the appetizer is allegedly derived from an authentic Burmese recipe, the dish was probably invented in the United States by Joe Young working under Victor  Bergeron, founder of Trader Vic's. 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. The history of Crab Rangoon is unclear, though the dish might be derived from the Cantonese dish of fried wontons. Names. They may be referred to as crab puffs, crab pillows, crab cheese wontons, or cheese wontons. In the Pacific Northwest states of the US, Crab Rangoon are also known as crab puffs, although this primarily refers to versions that use puff  pastry as a wrapper instead of wonton.