worst crap ever...and I made it...

HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134

So, my wife has been on a Crab Rangoon binge at our local sushi restaurant, they are good but, come on, they can be better. I mean how hard can this be... Picked up some phillips Crab meat, won ton wrappers and some Philly cream cheese. Today for brunch I was going to surprise her....not so f#%^king much. Mixed up cream cheese and crab 50/50, 5% salt (too much), 5% gouchujong, 5% amino acid. Tasted AWESOME! Fired up the oil to 350F, pulled out the wontons, egg wash, a little filling so they wouldn't explode..sealed em up and dropped them in the oil. Soon as they turned golden pulled them and tried to eat one, cream cheese is F-ing HOT.. burned the shit out of my thumb, thank god i didn't try to eat it!. So, I said to myself, self you need to see if there is a difference and turn the heat up to 375F while these cool, and so myself did so. All cooked and cooled and I tried one...holy crap, it tasted like one month old fish that had been left on the counter the whole time....tried the 375 and it wasn't much better.

I threw it all out.....any freaking idea what happened?? Fresh peanut oil, they weren't greasy, nice and crisp..

The Retarded, Drunk, Pissed off and Embarrassed Cook (notice no chef in that?)

Rob

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mike.minasian

Did you put egg wash on the outside? Or just to seal the seam? I think it's completely unnecessary. I just use water to seal. The outside will brown nicely no matter what you do. Perhaps that was the problem?

Jawad_Al_Kahwati_288887

Hmm...did you drain the crab meat or toss it in straight from the can?

HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134

No, and i usually do. In fact I normally rinse crab meat. The uncooked product (filling) tasted fine no fishy flavor at all....the final product was yuck! I have had to drink a bottle of Chardonnay and a half bottle of Zin just to reduce the aftertaste....not gone yet but, thank the lord I have more wine...can I get an amen?

HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134

no just on the edges...wontons are known for "blowing up" and dumping the contents in the oil...which you then get to throw away (unless the stuffing is really good like short ribs)

Jawad_Al_Kahwati_288887

I'll agree...wine makes all things better.

As for the taste, I'm really thinking that brining liquid thats packed in cans probably blended with the cheese when it hit the hot oil and what you were tasting was that fishy crabby brining water flavor.

When I make it, it's important that the meat is distinct from the rest of the ingredients or else its very overpowering. Think to the point where if you don't put a lot of crab, you wouldn't know it was in there, so you put a lot of crab and you're like...ohhhh man...CRAB MEAT, YES! Wash wash wash!

fisher23

That would be my only suggestion, rinse the crab meat, although I did find a couple of recipes that use less than 25% crab meat. The only time I made them, long ago, I used the fake crab and baked at 450°F, not as crispy but didn't want the deep fried that day. Not much help, sorry! Have another glass of wine and carry on.

brian_martin2001

This is a recipe that I've used in the past. It's very Americanized, I just know i think it tastes good. I read in a food and culture class i took years ago that there is nothing authentically Asian about crab rangoon, I don't worry so much about it. Also, forgive the measurements, I never really bothered to mass the ingredients as I've only made it a few times.

1 clove of garlic: minced

8 oz cream cheese

6 oz crab meat

2 green onions, finely chopped

1/2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp worcestershire sauce

wonton wrappers

mix all the ingredients except the wrappers together, fill the wrappers, I just press the wrappers together with the tines of a fork, and deep fry.

I have no experience with the aminos or gouchujong, however, but just reading about their flavor profiles, I probably wouldn't have added the salt at all. As was already noted, I also would have also drained and rinsed the crab meat. Better luck next times.

Robert_Conn_II_123023

We all have dishes turn on us from time to time, don't sweat it. I love crab rangoon (as does my wife). I always approach it from a very simple manner. No recipe, a dash of this, a pinch of that. Keep it simple, taste as you go. IMO it's one of those dishes that you learn and master by using the force. Let your experience guide the way next time and don't overthink it. Sorry I don't have a more specific answer for you.

GaryT_92514

Maybe the added amino acid mix. I wonder if there might have been some heat-activated enzymes in the crab meat that could break them down to amines and then ammonia (hence the bad fish smell)? Perhaps they also contained TMAO, which Harold says breaks down to ammonia too.