Crab Rangoon (Or Really, Krab Rangoon)

In spite of normally lacking any perceptible quantity of the star ingredient, Crab Rangoon are a family favorite whenever we go to an Asian restaurant. We made this recipe on a recent "homemade Chinese" dinner night and I decided to showcase the purported main ingredient...until all we could find at the grocery store was Krab... I think you'll agree that the flavor of the considerable addition of Krab is worth the effort of making these at home. Real crab would have been a blissful extravagance. Unless you are feeding an army, you will have enough prepared Rangoon to freeze some for later use.

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Yields: 40 individual rangoon

Ingredients

• 12  ounces  crabmeat (or Krabmeat, if that's what you can get)
• 8  ounces cream cheese (one standard package)
• 2  tablespoons sour cream
• 2  green onions, sliced thin
• 1  tablespoon garlic powder
• 1  tablespoon soy sauce
• 1⁄2 teaspoon sugar
• 40  wonton wrappers, square (1 package, from the produce section of the grocery store)
• 1 -2  liter  frying oil (peanut or canola)

Directions

1. Beat together the cream cheese, garlic powder, and sugar until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sour cream, c(K)rab, soy sauce, and sliced green onions. Beat until combined.
2. Prepare a work space - you will need a surface that can be dried intermittently to fill the wrappers , a cookie sheet (and probably backup sheets) lined with wax paper to receive the filled wrappers, a small dish of water to moisten the wrappers so that they seal after being filled, and a towel to keep your workspace clean and dry. You will also need a paper towel-lined cookie sheet to place the fried rangoon on to drain after frying.
3. Fill the wrappers by laying out six individual wrappers onto your prepared work surface. Place about a teaspoon of filling into the middle of each wrapper. Moisten the outside edges of the wrapper with water and then pinch opposite sides of the wrapper together above the filling. Alternately, you could fold the wrapper into triangles. Secure the seams of the wrapper by pressing the moistened edges together. Place onto the wax paper-lined cookie sheet in a single layer.
4. Heat the oil to 350 Farenheit in a heavy bottomed pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Regardless of the width of the pan you should have 1" to 2" of oil in the bottom at all times. When the oil has reached the proper temperature, carefully drop individual rangoon into the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the rangoon - there should only be a single "layer" in the oil at a given time.
5. Using a metal utensil (a slotted spoon or metal spider basket), turn the rangoon when they are browned on one side. When they are golden brown and delicious on both sides, remove the cooked rangoon to a paper towel-lined cookie sheet to drain and cool.
6. If you are frying a portion of the rangoon and freezing the remainder for later, you will have best results if you place a single layer of the raw, filled rangoon on the wax paper-lined cookie sheet, ensuring that they aren't touching one another. Freeze the rangoon solid on the sheet and then put into a freezer bag, label, and return to the freezer. Then, whenever the urge to fry some up strikes you can take just the number you want from the freezer bag and leave the rest for later. Enjoy!