Robert Salsman, restaurateur, caterer, and chef divine, and his partner Richard Seaboldt were friends of ours for decades. While most of us worked with Richard at Liesvelds or other Kansas City florists, Ania worked for Bob when he was an executive at Gilbert-Robinson, the company that developed restaurants like Houlihan’s and Bristol’s; Carla worked for him later at Salsman Catering. He hated to disclose his recipes to anyone, ever; on the other hand, Carla wasn’t above bribing him with scrambled eggs to earn the privilege of borrowing from his cookbook library, and we did share with him the recipe for Kate’s Pumpkin Pie. Maybe we can call it even if we pass this one along to you.

• 3 pounds cream cheese
• 2 pounds fresh crabmeat (may substitute surimi)
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• Soy sauce to taste
• Garlic salt to taste
• Wonton wrappers

Mix all ingredients except wonton skins; chill overnight. On the day dip is to be served, heat dip over low heat and keep warm in chafing dish. Top with diced green onions if desired.

To prepare the wonton wrappers, cut them into desired shapes or sizes. Next, put a wire rack over a sheet pan – this is where you’re going to drain the wrappers when they’re done.

In a heavy Dutch oven or stockpot (I’m assuming you don’t have a deep-fryer appliance), add enough vegetable oil until you have about a 2-inch depth. Clip a candy thermometer on the side, and heat to 350 degrees. Add just enough wontons to make a single layer; don’t crowd them or they’ll end up unevenly fried and gummy. Cook until they are puffy and golden brown – it will only take a couple of minutes. Remove from fryer with a slotted metal spoon, and drain them on the wire rack.

If you have an air fryer, you can cook a couple of layers of wrappers at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes; check on them about halfway through cooking time, and stir them around if you need to.

Keep the wontons warm in a 250 degree oven; serve warm dip with warm chips.

See also, Cheap Fake Crab Dip

Carla made this one night when she was craving Hot Crab Rangoon Dip but wasn’t about to go to the trouble of shelling crabmeat, chopping vegetables, or frying wontons. Cheap and fake it may be, but it is also addictive and has earned its own independent fan base. She concedes it would probably be even better with a little garlic and some fresh chives. Wonderful with thin tortilla chips, pita chips, even fried wontons.

• 8 ounces surimi (fake crab)
• 8 ounces reduced fat or regular sour cream
• 12 ounces commercial French onion dip

Shred or finely dice surimi; mix all ingredients together and chill at least one hour. Take bowl of dip into family room with bag of tortilla chips, and eat the entire bowl while watching Law & Order reruns.

Photo by Frankie Latour on Unsplash