Super Easy Crab Puffs Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are crab puffs made of? ›

Crab puffs, aka crab rangoons, are a staple at most casual Chinese restaurants. They are made of crispy wonton wrappers stuffed with juicy crab meat and cream cheese.

It consists of cream cheese, sometimes sweetened, plus, usually, very small bits of imitation crab, stuffed into a wonton wrapper and deep-fried, served with a syrupy, neon sweet-and-sour dipping sauce. It is, essentially, deep-fried cheesecake with fake crab in it—as sweet as any dessert, but served as an appetizer.

Boiling imitation crab is the most common and straightforward method. Here's how you can do it: Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a rolling boil. Add the imitation crab to the boiling water and let it cook for 3-5 minutes.

Preparation. The filling is made with a combination of cream cheese, crab meat or imitation crab meat, scallions or onion, garlic, and other flavorings. A small amount of the filling is wrapped in each wonton wrapper.

Worst: Crab Rangoon

It's mostly cream cheese, wrapped in dough and deep-fried to create bite-sized calorie bombs. Because they're small, it's easy to eat more than one. Finish an order of 4, and you're likely to get more than half the calories and fat you should have in an entire meal.

I love Panda Express' Crab Rangoons and they're so easy to make! Oddly enough, they don't use crab or imitation crab in their original recipe. Feel free to add some though, it's delicious! My local Panda Express offers 3 for $2.35.

Cursory online research will tell you that a dish resembling present-day crab rangoon first appeared on the menu of legendary tiki bar and restaurant Trader Vic's, though some sources hypothesize these stuffed crab puffs emerged around the turn of the century in British-controlled Burma.

Crab Rangoon Ingredients

The cream cheese will be easier to mix if it is room temperature. Lump Crab Meat: You can use lump crab meat that is found in the refrigerated meat section of the grocery store, or you can also find canned lump crab meat! I recommend using real crab meat over imitation crab meat.

Just like the name implies, imitation crab contains no crabmeat. Fish is, however, one of the main ingredients. It is made using surimi, which is a paste made of fish and a few other ingredients. Surimi is often made with pollock, which is also used to make fish sticks and breaded fish products.

Can Dogs Eat Imitation Crab? Fake crabmeat is generally made of white fish, artificial food colorings, and other additives and preservatives. There are unknown ingredients in imitation crabmeat products—including imitation crabmeat sticks made out of fish paste—that can be unhealthy for dogs.

Can I freeze imitation crab? ›

You should use the package or freeze it before the date on the package. If you freeze it before the use by date, you can store it frozen for up to nine months. You should use the thawed product within three days after thawing.

Crisp and bubbly with a molten center of oozy, tangy cream cheese, scallions and crab. Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site.

Crab Meat: The leading role in the whole recipe. Cracker Crumbs: Drumroll please… the filler in this crab cake recipe is cracker crumbs. There is so much debate on what the best filler is and, trust me, some of the best crab cakes are made with CRACKERS!

Imitation crab is a highly processed food made by combining minced fish with starch, egg whites, sugar, salt, and additives to mimic the flavor, color, and texture of real crab meat. While it's significantly less expensive than real crab, it's also less nutritious.

The main ingredient of crab sticks is surimi – finely pulverised white fish – most commonly Alaska pollock. They also include fillers such as wheat and potato starch, and egg white, along with crab flavouring and food dyes to give them their crab-like red and white colour.