Viet Cajun Seafood Boil

A seafood boil is a great way to enjoy summer. It will offer some good messy yet yummy fun. Lay out a disposable plastic table cloth or line the top of your table with a roll of kraft paper as your serving dish.

This recipe has the option of making it with a Vietnamese twist by adding minced crab paste or shrimp paste (you can find this at asian supermarkets), but feel free to leave this out. The sauce will still be super yummy!

Pick your shellfish/vegetables:

Feel free to use as few or as many different ingredients in your boil. I like potatoes, corn, sausage with my shellfish. Below is a list of common ingredients with recommended cooking times. The cooking times start from when the water starts to boil again after the item has been added.

Each ingredient will cook at a different times, so you want to start by adding the longest-cooking to the shortest-cooking. 

Lotus Root: about 15 to 20 minutes Lobster: about 12 to 15 minutes Crawfish: about 13 minutes Crab: about 10 to 15 minutes depending on size of crab Okra: about 8 to 10 minutes Clams: about 8 to 10 minutes Snow Crab: about 8 to 9 minutes for frozen legs, or 4 to 5 minutes for unthawed legs Corn on the Cob: about 8 minutes Nugget Potatoes: about 8 minutes Sausage: sliced for about 4 minutes. (farmers sauce, garlic sausage, kielbasa, or andouille sausage) Shrimp: about 4 minutes Mussels: about 3 to 6 minutes

You can have the seafood boil alone or serve with garlic bread, baguettes, rice, french fries, mantou, or fried mantou!

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Viet Cajun Seafood Boil

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

2lb choice of seafood 1 lb nugget potatoes 1 corn cob, cut in half 200g choice of vegetables 400g choice of sausage or more seafood or vegetables 1 tsp salt Optional - Aromatics to add to broth (onion, garlic, halved lemons, thyme and old bay seasoning)

Sauce: 1 sticks of butter, unsalted 1/4 cup cloves of garlic, minced 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon cajun seasoning 2 teaspoon lemon pepper (or more if you want it tangier) 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon garlic powder 2 teaspoon cayenne (or your preference depending how spicy you want it) 2 tablespoon minced crab spices sauce or minced shrimp spices sauce (optional) 1 tbsp hot sauce (or more if you want it spicier) 1 1/4 cup boiling stock

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add a teaspoon of salt to the water.

2. Once boiled, add the potatoes and corn, first as they take the longest to cook, about 8 minutes.

3. After add the shrimp and sausage, once boiling start timing for another 3 or 4 minutes.
 Scoop everything out and place into a large pot or skillet, depending on how much seafood you have. Keep on lowest heat.

4. Scoop the boiling stock into a bowl and mix with the cajun sauce. Taste and adjust, if you need more boiling stock add more. (Save the stock to make a gumbo or a seafood stew)

5. Pour the sauce over the seafood and vegetable and mix until everything is all coated with the sauce.

6. Add contents to a large bowl or pour into a heat safe bag. Enjoy!

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