Crab Rangoon Dip Review

I buy a few products and plan to review them but sometimes they are Aldi Finds and disappear from the store before I can do a full review. This crab rangoon dip is not only in the current Aldi ad but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it before when they have their pan-Asian product sales.

I have to be honest and say I didn’t have high hopes. I love their 99¢ onion dip but that sugary sweet pimento cheese spread made me wary of trying their other dips. If any dip would be unfortunately sweet, I thought it would be this one. Crab Rangoon (or as they are called more frequently locally to me, crab wontons) are often slightly sweet. Crab Rangoon is of course, not an authentically Chinese dish that seems to have its origins in the rise of Tiki and faux Polynesian restaurants in the 1950s. No one seems to know how it got its name or why it pairs crab (or fake crab) with cream cheese and scallions. That said it is a popular appetizer at a lot of Chinese-American restaurants. I didn’t grow up eating it (we were shrimp toast people) but a place local to me gives it to you free if you spend $25 so I’ve had it a fair amount.

I continued to be skeptical when I opened the tub. Where were the scallions? Why were there red peppers? I’m still not sure of the answers to that but upon trying it, my verdict is that it’s…surprisingly good! I would not say it tastes exactly like what I would expect but it isn’t sweet, has large chunks of fake crab, pleasantly crunchy onions and pepper chunks that didn’t have the cloying sweetness that bell peppers can have. It was creamy and rather thick–I wisely chose crackers over chips for this one–and the texture was great. Just enough texture from the bits of crab and vegetables to keep it interesting but not enough that it felt overly chunky. It had a bit of a kick to it. Which was a plus for me but if you are very spice adverse, be forewarned, it’s not as bland as most fried Crab Rangoon filling I’ve had. It’s a little pricy for Aldi at $3.29 but on par for store-bought dips, I think. I’d buy it again. A surprise win! Now, I would not say that if I tried this blind I would have guessed it was supposed to be crab rangoon and I think the packaging perhaps is in questionable taste but it is a tasty, hearty dip on its own merits.

 

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