Crab Rangoon

Real crab makes a difference, but quality imitation crab works in a pinch. Seal the wontons completely to prevent bursting. The oil temperature is crucial - too hot and they brown before heating through. Serve immediately for maximum crispiness.

Crab Rangoon is a purely American invention, a product of the mid-20th-century tiki culture that reimagined Polynesian and Asian cuisines through an American lens. Wikipedia confirms it appeared on the menu of the Polynesian-style restaurant Trader Vic's in Beverly Hills in 1955 and in San Francisco since at least 1956. Victor Bergeron, founder of Trader Vic's, and Chinese-American chef Joe Young, who worked at the restaurant, are both credited with the dish's creation, with Atlas Obscura reporting that Bergeron's granddaughter described him experimenting with wonton wrappers and various fillings in the 1940s. The name references Rangoon — the former name of Yangon, Myanmar's largest city — though the dish has no authentic Burmese origin. Its defining ingredient, cream cheese, was invented in Chester, New York in 1872 by William Lawrence and trademarked as Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese in 1880; cream cheese is not used in any traditional Chinese, Burmese, or Polynesian cuisine, making the dish's American origin unmistakable. By the 1970s and 1980s crab rangoon had migrated from tiki restaurants into American Chinese takeout menus across the country, where imitation crab (surimi, developed in Japan in 1975) replaced the original real crab in most versions. Today it appears on the menu of virtually every American Chinese restaurant, a beloved example of pure American culinary invention.