Crab Rangoons

It's Super Bowl Week! That can only mean one thing -- lots and lots of appetizer recipes flooding the blog-o-sphere.

I want to get on this bandwagon for a couple of reasons. First, I absolutely LOVE making appetizers. Bite-sized snacks that are tasty to eat and fun to make really make my heart go pidder padder (or is it pitter patter? Life's great questions...)

I also think that homemade appetizers can elevate any game day party to the next level. And since this coming Sunday is the ultimate game day, this can't wait.

One thing I have been dying to make at home is Crab Rangoons. Back in college, any bad week could be made instantly better by ordering Chinese take-out with an extra order of crab rangoons. What part about cream cheese and crab meat fried to perfection WOULDN'T make it better?

Be still the college student inside my heart. Turns out making crab rangoons is totally easy. There is a little bit of assembly required, but other than that they cook up quickly and get eaten up even quicker!

It starts with cream cheese, softened to room temperature, alongside chopped scallions and shredded crab meat. I used the imitation crab meat because, honestly, after the mixing with cream cheese and the frying, it didn't seem necessary to splurge on lump crab meat.

Using a fork and some elbow grease, incorporate the cheese, crab and scallions along with Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and cracked black pepper.

Each wonton will be made using a wonton wrapper. These things are amazing, especially if you like cooking appetizers! They are usually right in the produce section of your grocery store -- just ask a nice employee to point you to them.

About a teaspoonful of the cream cheese mix is placed in the middle of each wrapper. Then, to seal the wrappers, dip your finger in water and run it along the outer edges. Fold the wrappers in half into triangles and seal well by pressing down on all sides, letting out as much air as possible.

Added bonus -- these keep really well in the refrigerator, so feel free to prep the night before that way on game day all you need to do is fry 'em up!

For cooking, heat a large amount of canola or vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan over medium heat. The level of the oil should be just high enough to cover the rangoons.

Cook in batches until golden brown. Best served hot with soy sauce or duck sauce for dipping.

There's not much more I can say about this app recipe. It's essentially everything you want in an appetizer. A bit sinful, but totally delicious. Easy to eat while crowded around a big TV with a bunch of friends. Just a complete yum-fest (I just made that word up...how do we like it?)



Here's what you need for Crab Rangoons:

1 8-oz. package of low-fat cream cheese, softened
2 scallions, chopped (white and light green parts are best)
4 to 5 oz. imitation crab meat, shredded
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Salt to taste
24 to 26 wonton wrappers
Canola oil for frying

Here's what you do:

In a medium bowl, combined the cream cheese, scallions, crab meat, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings until well combined.

Prepare your work station for making the rangoons. Fill a small bowl with water, lay out a piece of wax or parchment paper and separate the wonton wrappers.

To build the rangoon, place a teaspoon or so of the cream cheese filling in the center of the square wonton wrapper. Using your finger, brush all sides of the wrapper with a little bit of water. To seal, pull two opposite corners of the wrapper together and press down on all sides to seal. I also bent up the corners of my wrappers for extra sealage.

To cook the rangoons, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 200 degrees. In a heavy bottomed skillet, heat canola oil over medium heat. I used enough oil to completely cover the bottom of the pan and covers about half the height of each rangoon.

Fry each rangoon until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to the baking sheet and keep in the oven to keep warm while frying the remaining rangoons in batches.

Serve immediately!