Buzz
Several dishes adored by Americans as Chinese are not truly from China. Fortune cookies trace back to Japan, while General Tso’s chicken was crafted in Taiwan. Among these, crab rangoon stands out as particularly puzzling. This deep-fried dumpling, filled with a sweet and creamy seafood mixture, bears little resemblance to traditional dishes from Hunan, Szechuan, Cantonese, or other Chinese culinary traditions. Despite its popularity, many diners remain unaware of its true origins.
Crab rangoon first graced menus at Trader Vic’s in the 1940s, as noted by Atlas Obscura. Victor Bergeron’s tiki bar chain offered a stylized, Westernized take on Polynesian culture. Their creations, such as the Mai Tai cocktail, were designed to evoke an exotic feel, despite being entirely novel concoctions.
Eve, the granddaughter of Trader Vic’s founder Victor Bergeron, credits him with inventing crab rangoon. Experimenting with wonton wrappers, he decided to fill them with crab meat and cream cheese before deep frying. Joe Young, a Chinese-American barback at the restaurant, likely influenced the dish’s Chinese-inspired menu direction.
While the wonton wrappers had Chinese origins, the dish diverged significantly from traditional Chinese cuisine. Cream cheese, a staple in 1940s American kitchens, was absent in China due to widespread lactose intolerance and a dairy-free culinary tradition. Adding to the confusion, Vic named the dish crab rangoon after Yangon, Myanmar’s former name.
Trader Vic’s crab rangoon, despite its cultural fusion, became a hit. Chinese-American restaurants adopted their own versions, ensuring its survival even as the chain declined in the 20th century. Today’s fried wontons at local Chinese eateries closely resemble those from Trader Vic’s in the 1940s and ‘50s, though imitation crab often replaces real crab to reduce expenses. The story behind imitation crab, however, is its own less-than-appetizing tale.
