Name: Crab and Cheese Wontons
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 4 oz. Cream Cheese; ½ cup Shredded Imitation Crab (Or fresh or canned crab, or chopped shrimp/lobster); 3 Green Onions; 1 clove Garlic; 1 tsp. Soy Sauce (Low Sodium); ½ tsp Sesame Oil; 16 Wonton Wrappers; Vegetable Oil (For Frying); 3 cloves Garlic; ½ cup Rice Vinegar; ¼ cup Water; ½ cup White Granulated Sugar; ½ tsp. Salt; 1 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes; ½ tsp. Sriracha; 1 tb. Cornstarch

Chinese food has always been a guilty pleasure in my home. And by Chinese, I mean the delicious American-Chinese dishes of lo mein, fried rice, and sweet and spicy anything. Lately, I have been attempting to re-create many of my favorite takeout dishes at home, for a healthier, MSG-free, and less greasy alternative to ordering in.

If there is one Chinese-American dish me and my siblings would always fight over when we would eat out or order our takeout, it was definitely the Crab Rangoon appetizer. It was never a question of whether or not we should order it, but whether we should order one or two servings. We just found it so hard to resist the cheesy goodness in the fried wontons. A few years ago, I set out to recreate these wontons. It turns out, they are so easy to make and require very few ingredients. One of the main ingredients is crab. However, none of my local supermarkets carry fresh crab so I have to make it out to a local fish market to get some. Because of this, I decided to stay true to what most of the takeout Chinese restaurants use, imitation crab. Imitation crab is found at any local supermarket in the refrigerated section near the seafood. It only costs a couple of bucks, unlike fresh crab, also making it the more affordable option. You can most definitely use fresh crab in this recipe or even canned crab works great as well.

As for the wontons, I use wonton wrappers which I find in the refrigerated section near tofu and salad dressings. I usually buy these ahead of time and store in my freezer (where they last longer) so that I always have some on hand when I need them. To defrost, simply take them out a few hours before you are going to use them. If you want to elevate this dish for serving at a special meal, simply replace the imitation crab with fresh crab/shrimp/lobster!

STEP 1

Preheat about 1-2 inches of vegetable oil in a pot over medium heat.

STEP 2

Slice the green onions and set aside about a tablespoon for garnish.
Crush the clove of garlic using a mortar and pestle or finely chop.

STEP 3

In a small bowl, mix the room temperature cream cheese until creamy. Add the shredded crab, green onion, crushed garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil. Mix until combined.

STEP 4

Put about a tablespoon of water in a small bowl.

STEP 5

Lay out a wonton wrapper and place 1 teaspoon of the cheese filling in the middle.
Dab the edges with water and fold one corner over the other to form a triangle.
Press down on all the sides to seal the edges. Repeat until you have no filling remaining.

STEP 6

Drop the wontons into the heated oil for about 30 seconds to 1 minutes then flip over for another minute.

STEP 7 - Sweet Chili Sauce

Whisk together ¼ cup of water with the cornstarch and set aside. In a small saucepan, mix the rice vinegar, remaining ½ cup of water, crushed garlic and sugar.

Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and sriracha and cook for a few more minutes until reduced to almost half.

Drain on a paper towel and serve with a sweet chili dipping sauce.

Lastly add the cornstarch mixture and whisk until thickened. Turn off heat and let sauce cool.