I grew up eating a considerable number of “Crab Rangoon” wontons from take-out Chinese-American food spots, which are these faux-Chinese wontons that originated in the U.S. that combine artificial crab meat (surimi) and cream cheese inside wontons that are deep-fried and traditionally served with a sweet red dipping sauce. They are delicious, although definitely not traditional Chinese.
This version uses freshly-peeled and de-veined shrimp mixed with scallionsand some Philadelphia cream cheese for the wonton filling. Again, not Chinese by any standard, but absolutely delicious.
You can find 50-packs of square or circular frozen or fresh wonton wrappers in the refrigerated or freezer section of your major grocery store, or in any Asian specialty foods store. Even if you are new to making your own wontons at home, you should consider giving these homemade wontons a try.
Shrimp & Scallion Cream Cheese Wontons
Ingredients
For the Dipping Sauce:
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 3 tsp white granulated sugar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 3 Tbsp cup rice vinegar
- 2 Tbsp chili garlic paste, ( or sambal oelek)
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- ½ scallion, (finely sliced)
- 2 tsp sesame seeds, ( lightly toasted)
For the Shrimp & Scallion Wontons:
- 32 oz (2 lbs) fresh head-on shrimp, (or 16oz peeled and cleaned fresh shrimp)
- 4 oz Philadelphia cream cheese, ( softened)
- 4 scallions, ( finely sliced)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 package of thawed wonton wrappers ((pack of 50 wrappers))
- 1 whole egg, ( whisked, for sealing wontons)
- 4 cups vegetable oil, (for frying wontons)
Instructions
For the Dipping Sauce:
- Whisk together the dipping sauce ingredients, and set the bowl aside until you are ready to serve.
For the Shrimp & Scallion Wontons:
- Peel, de-vein, and dry the fresh shrimp on paper towels.
- Cut the shrimp into small pieces, about 6 pieces per shrimp.
- Combine the chopped shrimp with the cream cheese, scallions, soy sauce, Kosher salt, and sesame oil.
- Mix until the ingredients for the filling are evenly distributed.
- Heat the vegetable oil to 350F in heavy frying pot.
- Carefully spoon about ¾ Tbsp of filling into the center of each wonton wrapper.
- *Try not to overfill the wontons at this stage.
- Working in batches, rub a small amount of egg wash on the edges of the outer two sides of the wonton.
- Close the wonton by folding the two remaining sides of the wonton without the egg wash into the two sides with the egg wash, with the filling secured in the center of the closed wonton.
- Seal the edges of the wontons by pressing them together firmly.
- *If using square wonton wrappers, this should result in a triangular-shaped sealed wonton.
- Gently fold the two bottom corners of the wonton triangle in towards themselves, creating more a spherical shape.
- *If you want to make a nicer shape with wontons, check out some videos online for making wontons at home. It really is an art form, and practice makes perfect!
- When your wontons are sealed and your oil is hot, it is time to start deep-frying.
- Working in batches, place a few wontons into the hot oil and cook until golden-brown.
- Drain the wontons on paper towels, and serve immediately with the dipping sauce that you made earlier.