Oven "Fried" Crab Rangoon

This recipe originally was posted on an unknown website visited by my Number One Fan called, "Baked Cream Cheese Won-tons" and they were made with shrimp.  When I read it, I realized this was an amended version of a classic Cantonese appetizer I've seen on countless Chinese restaurant menus, Crab Rangoon.  I was intrigued with the oven baking cooking process since frying anything is just an enormous pain in terms of set-up, calorie count and clean-up.  Paired with a Chinese New Year dinner of Asian Shrimp Spring Rolls, and these little gems were a nice accompaniment and came out pretty darn good.

As a dipping sauce, you need something that imparts sweet and heat.  You could use any variety of marmalade, mixed with some hot Chinese mustard.  I just happen to have on hand some La Choy Sweet and Sour sauce, and mixed in some Coleman's mustard.  I thought it worked quite well.

Ingredients
1 5-1/2 ounce can of crab meat
1 cup whipped cream cheese (like, Philadelphia)
18 won-ton skins
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced jarred or fresh ginger (in a pinch you could used ginger powder)
2 green onions, sliced very thin
1 tsp sesame oil
1 egg
salt & pepper to taste
shot of Sriracha sauce, to taste
non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)

The Recipe
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly spray a sheet pan or baking sheet with the non-stick spray.

Drain the can of crab meat well by leaving the lid in place after opening and squeezing it against the contents to drain off as much water as possible.  Then, place the drained crab meat in a paper towel and compress it to remove any additional water.  It's important to have your crab meat is dry as possible.

Mix the crab, cream cheese, garlic, ginger, green onions, sesame oil, salt, pepper and Sriracha sauce in a mixing bowl and stir well to combine. Beat the egg in a small bowl until well blended and set aside.

To assemble the Rangoon, place a won-ton wrapper on a work surface and spoon in about a teaspoon of the crab mixture in the center.  Dip your finger into the egg wash and rub all four edges of the won-ton wrapper with the egg.  This will serve as a glue to turn your won-ton into a Rangoon. Fold all sides of the won-ton over the filling to create an 'X', pinching the four edges to seal.

Place the won-tons in a single layer on the baking sheet and coat the won-tons with a light shot of the cooking spray.

Bake in the preheated oven 10-12 minutes until the Rangoons are brown and crisp.

Serve hot with the dipping sauce.