Crab Rangoon

I was so intrigued by Crab Rangoon that I researched it -- wanted to know what the cream cheesey stuff was on the inside and it turns out to be none other than CREAM CHEESE. I didn't think it could be since cream cheese isn't exactly authentically Asian.

Wikipedia describes Crab Rangoon thusly:

Crab Rangoon are deep-fried dumpling appetizers served in American Chinese and, more recently,Thai restaurants, stuffed with a combination of cream cheese, lightly flaked crab meat (more commonly, canned crab meat or imitation crab meat), with scallions, and/or garlic. These fillings are then wrapped in Chinese wonton wrappers in a triangular or flower shape, then deep fried invegetable oil.

As I suspected, this is NOT an authentic food... anyone else remember Trader Vic's? I remember when I thought that place was the height of sophistication -- little umbrella drinks and all!

Crab Rangoon has been on the menu of the "Polynesian-style" restaurant Trader Vic's in San Francisco since at least 1956. Although the appetizer is allegedly derived from an authentic Burmese recipe, the dish was probably invented in the United States. A "Rangoon crab a la Jack" was mentioned as a dish at a Hawaiian-style party in 1952, but without further detail, and so may or may not be the same thing. Though the history of crab Rangoon is unclear, cream cheese, like other cheese, is essentially nonexistent in Southeast Asian and Chinese cuisine, so it is unlikely that the dish is actually of east or southeast Asian origin. In North America, crab Rangoon is often served with soy sauce, plum sauce, duck sauce, sweet and sour sauce, or mustard for dipping.

me again: I don't care if it is fake, American non-authentic Trader Vic's party food. Those little crab things were so good.