The filling is made with a combination of cream cheese, crab meat or imitation crab meat, scallions or onion, garlic, and other flavorings.^[3][4][5][6] A small amount of the filling is wrapped in each wonton wrapper. The dumpling is then shaped by either folding the wrapper over into a triangle,^{[1][3][7][8][9]} by creating a four-pointed star,^[1][2] by gathering it up into a flower or purse shape,^[1][5] or by twisting it into the traditional wonton shape.^[6]

The appetizers are cooked to crispness by deep-frying in vegetable oil or by baking.^[3][4][5] They can be served hot or cold.^[3][5] In North America, crab rangoon is often served with a sauce for dipping such as soy sauce,^[6][10] plum sauce,^[11] duck sauce,^[10][12] sweet and sour sauce,^{[1][4][7][10]} or a hot mustard sauce.^[8][13]

Crab rangoon was on the menu of the "Polynesian-style" restaurant Trader Vic's in Beverly Hills in 1955^[14] and in San Francisco since at least 1956.^[15][16][17] Although the appetizer has the name of the Burmese city of Yangon,^[18] the dish was probably invented in the United States by Asian American chef Joe Young working under Victor Bergeron, founder of Trader Vic's.^[19][20][18] 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.^[21]

Although cream cheese was a staple of 1940s and 1950s American cuisine, it is not found in Chinese or Burmese cuisine.^[18][22]

They may be referred to as crab puffs, crab pillows, crab cheese wontons, or cheese wontons.

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  Triangular fried crab rangoons
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  In the wonton shape, surrounded by dipping sauces
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  Inside, showing the crisp shell, white filling, and golden dipping sauce.

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