Cuisine
16 MARIN ARTS & CULTURE
n honor of crab season, I have chosen crab rangoons as our featured recipe. Some friends and I recently had them again at a Chinese restaurant
and we all fell back in love with that most 1970s of appetizers that had long been forgotten. Unlike so many food trends, these little bites were actually really tasty, unique and easy to eat, but like skirt lengths and hairstyles, things come and go out of fashion, and food is no exception.
I learned to make these when I cooked for the old Perry’s and Butler’s in Mill Valley years ago, and they were quite popular. I think I would have liked them more if I didn’t have to assemble about a thousand of the things every day for service, and I think I pretty much blocked the fact of their existence out of my head at the end of my shift on the last day I was there.
They are not particularly hard to make, but don’t rush it, and make sure they are sealed well with the egg, or they might explode in the oil and make a huge mess. I would strongly recommend using real crab in this dish—it’s a hats off to the seasonality of the delicacy and I insist on using what is good now—especially when we live in an area with such great natural ingredients. You don’t have to fold them into funky shapes—just a little half square will do.
These tasty little packages would pair wonderfully with dry white wines like deLorimier Alexander Valley Chardonnay or Cuvee Blanc from Unti Vineyards in Dry Creek Valley, California.
Cheers!
Katharine
’Tis the season
by Katharine Browning
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”I would strongly recommend using real crab in this dish—it’s a hats off to the seasonality of the delicacy and I insist on using what is good now.”