Chef John's Crab Rangoon

Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 3 min
Servings: 6
Yield: 6 servings

Description

These deep-fried crab and cream cheese wontons contain just as much crab meat as cream cheese. They're served with a spicy sweet-and-sour dipping sauce.

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese
8 ounces crab meat, drained well
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1 clove crushed garlic
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1 pinch cayenne pepper
60 (3 1/2 inch square) wonton wrappers
Canola oil for frying
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon sriracha hot sauce, or to taste

Directions

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