Crab Rangoon

• servings: 44 servings
• active time: 20 minutes
• total time: 22 minutes

Ingredients

16 ounces cream cheese (softened (usually 2 packs))

1 ounce yellow onion (finely minced)

1 ounce carrot (peeled and finely minced)

1 ounce celery (finely minced)

4 sticks imitation crab meat (minced)

½ teaspoon Kosher salt (fine salt is okay too)

44 sheets wonton wrapper (thawed (usually 1 pack))

Sweet chili sauce (for dipping)

Directions

Make the crab rangoon filling:Place the finely minced onion, carrot, and celery into a double layer cheesecloth. Firmly squeeze to remove as much excess moisture from the veggies as possible. Transfer the squeezed veggies into a mixing bowl.

Into the mixing with the veggies, add the imitation crab meat, cream cheese, and salt. Mix with a rubber spatula until everything is well combined.

Fold the wontons:At the folding station, prepare a sheet pan or plate and line it with film wrap. Also, have the bowl of cream cheese filling, the wonton wrappers, and a spoon (regular eating spoon is perfect) ready at the station. Feel free to also grab a friend to help out!

Place a sheet of wonton wrapper in one hand and use the other hand to scoop up about 1 to 1½ tablespoons of the cream cheese filling using a spoon. Smear the cream cheese filling in the center area of the wrapper, then place the wrapper onto your clean work surface.

Use your fingers to bring all four sides of the wrapper to the center. Not the corners of the wrappers, but the center edges. As you bring the sides together, push some cream cheese up and firmly push the wrappers together at the center. No need to seal the entire edge of the wonton. The cream cheese will act as the "glue" to keep the wrapper sticking together. If any cream cheese gets pushed out of the wrapper, simply scrape it up and add it back into the bowl. Place the finished crab rangoon on the prepared sheet pan or plate and repeat with remaining filling and wrappers.*Please refer to the post above for step by step photo reference if needed.*

Fry the wontons:Heat the fryer to 350°F or add about 3 inches of oil in a pot and heat it to 350°F. Maintain the oil between 325°F and 350°F. Also, prepare a cooling rack on a sheet pan or a plate lined with paper towels.

Gently place the crab rangoons into the oil and let them fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until the four corners are golden brown. The bottom where the cream cheese filling is will stay pale golden. Remove the crab rangoons and let it drain on the prepared cooling rack or plate. Skim the oil if needed with a fine mesh strainer. Repeat with remaining crab rangoons.

Enjoy the crab rangoons while they're hot with some sweet chili sauce! Uncooked crab rangoons freeze really well. Please refer to our post above for more details!