The Puzzling Origins Of Crab Rangoon

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Riddick
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The Puzzling Origins Of Crab Rangoon

Post by Riddick » 03-29-2023 10:40 PM

Crab rangoon isn't Chinese—and it may not contain real crab. Before it appeared on Chinese restaurant menus, crab rangoon was conceived for Trader Vic’s in the 1940s: A Chinese-American barback was responsible for the tiki bar chain's Chinese-leaning menu at the time, and he may have had an influence on the cross cultural creation.

According to his granddaughter, the creamy crunchy dish came into being when Trader Vic’s founder Victor Bergeron was playing with wonton wrappers in the kitchen one day & thought to stuff them with crab meat and cream cheese & deep fry them.

While the wonton wrappers were Chinese, any similarity to the culture’s cuisine ended there. Cream cheese was popular in the US, but not in China: as most of the country is lactose intolerant, their dishes are virtually dairy-free. To further confuse its origins, Vic named it crab rangoon after the former name of the city of Yangon in Myanmar.

Despite its odd cultural mash-up, Vic's crab rangoon was a success. Chinese-American restaurants began making their own versions, and as Trader Vic’s declined throughout the 20th century, the appetizer lived on. To cut costs modern restaurants often use imitation crab, a descriptor that makes molded fish paste sound far more appetizing.

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