(Healthier) Homemade Take”in”, Part 3: Crab Rangoon

Image appears courtesy of @jijiali via stock images

My final installment for this first Take “In” Series culminates in my absolute favorite guilty pleasure when indulging in Chinese takeout — crab. rangoon. I love crab rangoon. My husband loves crab rangoon. My kid was shocked that she loved crab rangoon. When we order take out, we have to get 2 large orders of the stuff. So I knew it had to be a part of my Take “In” recipes.

Let me warn you before we get started — relative to some of my other recipes, this is a little labor intensive. You have to want this “healthier” version of this special takeout treat. I kind of have it down to a science at this point, but it took a while to get there. Also, full disclosure - I am VERY WHITE. This recipe is not meant to be an authentic dumpling by any stretch of the imagination. It takes shortcuts, but it’s fun and a crowdpleaser.

But to keep it fun, I’m gonna share some tips that will hopefully save you some frustration.

My first tip is crucial to not driving yourself insane while you’re stuffing your won tons — to make sealing easier, first set your wrappers up like diamonds, not like squares. The tips should be facing at 12 o’clock, 3, 6, and 9. Then wet the edges of the wrapper by dipping a finger in a small bowl of room temp water and drawing your finger along all 4 sides of the wrapper. Then add your filling, and bring the bottom of the wrapper up to the top to form a simple triangle, then press the two edges together. Make sure it is fully sealed.

Second tip — chill your mix. It will be easier to scoop and will prevent it from leaking out during cooking.

Third, pre-heat your air fryer FIRST. Do not add the won tons during the preheat. It will heat the mix too quickly and you’ll have empty won tons.

Crab Rangoon (makes about 24)

Ingredients:

1) 2 (6 oz) cans of crab meat, drained

2) 1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, room temp*

3) 1 tsp granulated sugar

4) 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

5) 1 tsp ginger paste

6) 1/2 tsp garlic powder

7) 2 tbsp dried chives

8) 1 pkg of won ton wrappers

9) A small bowl of water

Instructions:

1) In a standing mixer on low-medium, combine cream cheese and crab meat.

2) Add remaining ingredients until well-blended.

3) Place mix in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill (make it easier to scoop)

4) While mix is chilling, pre-heat your air fryer to 400 and set up your wrappers in diamond shapes.

5) Remembering to wet the edges of each wrapper, take about 1 TBSP of chilled mix, place in middle of wrapper, then bring bottom half up to the top point and press along the edges to close. Repeat until you run out of mix or wrappers.

6) Spray completed won tons with cooking spray before adding to air fryer. Cook for 7 minutes on 400. Then nosh.

*tip: if your cream cheese isn’t room temp, simply cut it into 1” cubes before mixing. I use this trick for butter in baking as well. It’s not going to win your top prize on the Great British Baking Show, but it works just fine for home cooking!