In some parts of the country, crab Rangoon is a staple on the appetizer menus of Chinese restaurants. These Chinese-American inventions are pot stickers filled with crab and cream cheese and deep-fried until they're meltingly decadent.

Chinese certainly make crab pot stickers — called alap, meaning crab horn, and probably referring to the cylindrical shape in which they're often made — but not, of course, with cream cheese in them. More typically, a seafood dumpling would contain ginger, chopped water chestnuts, scallions and such. There are many theories on where the cream cheese crept in. Some say they were introduced at the 1904 World's Fair, and some say they were invented at a Trader Vic's restaurant.

But can they be made at home?

The answer is yes, but there are tricks to it. First, speed is key.

This was obvious after four batches of these cream cheese and crab filled dumplings burst — first in a pan of hot oil, then in the oven and again under the broiler — sending molten cream cheese and crab bits spewing everywhere.

The goal was an easy home version of the dish. So deep-frying, which just isn't practical in most home kitchens, was out. Clearly pan-frying was called for, as with other types of pot stickers.

The filling was the easy part — canned crab meat (or better yet, frozen and thawed lump crab meat) mixed with cream cheese. While restaurant versions tend to favor a heavier cream cheese ratio, a better texture and taste was had by treating the dairy as more of a dressing on a crab-heavy filling.

The wrappers also were simple. Wonton wrappers (aka won ton pi) are readily available in the Asian or produce sections of most grocers. They are easy to work with and fry up nice and crisp.

Rolled similar to spring rolls (like thick cigars), the first few batches were dismal failures. Wrapped thus, the wontons created thick layers that took forever to fry. The filling also was too thick — by the time the center was heated, the ends had burst.

This obviously isn't a problem when deep-frying — which cooks faster and at much higher temperatures than the pan-fry method. Baking and broiling seemed like good workarounds but also took too long and caused blowouts.

The solution? A simple fold- and-crimp method — again, typical of pot stickers. By folding a single sheet of wonton around the filling just once (rather than rolling and creating several layers), then crimping it with a fork (or pleating it with your fingers, as Chinese restaurants do), the dumplings were able to be pan fried in just seconds.

The filling is easily tinkered with to individual tastes. A bit of diced red onion, jalapeno peppers and hot sauce added a nice contrast to the crab and cheese. Other finely diced vegetables could be added, as could other (precooked) seafood or meat. You can make shrimp Rangoon by using shelled, deveined, chopped, cooked shrimp in place of the crab. And you can add such ingredients as scallions or cilantro.

This dish takes about 30 minutes to make, start to finish.

CRAB RANGOON