If you haven’t been to Tao Tao (taotaokck.com), go now and thank us later. Chef Annie Der has been operating the Chinese joint for more than five decades, and it’s remained a staple of the KCK community. Tao Tao serves dishes like authentic Springfield cashew chicken, shrimp fried rice and crab rangoon. In fact, Tao Tao boasts eight different flavors of crab rangoon, including a strawberry cheesecake rangoon.
The strawberry cheesecake rangoon is, frankly, genius. Using, of course, a cream cheese base, Tao Tao adds fresh strawberries and sugar to the filling. After being pulled from the fryer, the rangoons are topped with powdered sugar and served warm.
Tina Der, Chef Annie’s daughter who helps run Tao Tao, says that coming up with different flavors of crab rangoon was her brother’s idea. “It’s taken a while to perfect the recipe,” Tina says. “When we first started adding fresh fruit to the rangoon, they were too watery. Now we are working with a recipe that keeps the filling intact.”
