Chefs Are Pushing the Boundaries of What Can Crab Rangoon

The Chinese American restaurant staple is so beloved among American chefs that it’s appearing in bagels, on pizza and even in doughnuts.

During the first two days Sidedoor Bagel in Indianpolis sold its Mr. Krabs Rangoon special — crab-flecked cream cheese and a fried egg inside a spicy everything bagel studded with Sichuan pepper flakes, sweet chile sauce and wonton strips — there were more than 100 orders, making it the shop’s most popular special to date.

“The creamy, sweet and spicy components make it so loved by everyone,” said Josh Greeson, the owner of Sidedoor Bagel, who grew up eating crab Rangoon from the Chinese American restaurant in his rural Indiana hometown. “It translates well to experimenting with different cuisines.”

The crab Rangoon is neither from Rangoon (present-day Yangon, Myanmar) nor reliably made with real crab. Imitation crab, also known as surimi, and cream cheese are tucked into wonton wrappers — perhaps the dish’s only Chinese component — and deep-fried. That it first appeared on menus in California in the late 1940s at the vaguely Polynesian-influenced Trader Vic’s chain only muddies the waters. But those details are mere trivialities to the chefs who have turned their love for Rangoons into mozzarella sticks, pasta, melts and more.

“It sounds like someone drunk on mai tais made it,” said Grace Lin, the author of “Chinese Menu: The History, Myths and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods.” She explained that many Chinese restaurateurs looked to American tastes to come up with appetizers, which are uncustomary in Chinese cooking except at banquets. “Since crab Rangoon was popular and already considered Asian, they seized the opportunity and claimed it as their own in order to survive.”

In Des Moines, King Ying Low, the oldest Chinese restaurant in Iowa, closed in 2008 and reopened the following year as Fong’s Pizza, which serves Asian-inflected pizzas inspired by dishes like General Tso’s chicken and banh mi sandwiches.

But Fong’s kept the Rangoon on the menu, albeit in the form of a pizza made with a cream cheese base, imitation crab, mozzarella and Asiago cheeses and crushed wonton strips. It’s the restaurant’s “most popular pizza by four or five times,” said Chris Mendenhall, a managing partner.