Medicated Vietnamese-Cajun Seafood Boil

Mar 25

Mar 25 Medicated Vietnamese-Cajun Seafood Boil

Seafood, Recipe, Sous Weed, Meals, Butter, Asian

I've been binge-watching Ugly Delicious and Mind of a Chef these days. There are two episodes about Vietnamese-Cajun crawfish in Houston that really stuck out to me. There's a large Asian population in Texas and those were the flavors I grew up on. These are the flavors I love and craved when I moved to Brooklyn and then to San Francisco.

I've been feeling so homesick for a good crawfish boil. Luckily, it’s almost crawfish season and I’ll be back in my hometown in Texas right at the peak. It’s been a tradition in our family for ages and dad has perfected the boil with the sous vide method—the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, right? He likes the Cajun style but I love the Asian twist.

The thirst is real, and I need a quick hit. I can’t get live crawfish in SF so I used shrimp as a substitute. My medicated Vietnamese-Cajun sauce has the classic Cajun boil-in-a-bag seasoning with the addition of canna-butter, lemongrass, garlic, chiles, lime juice, and fish sauce.

Medicated Vietnamese-Cajun Seafood Boil
Serves 4

Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1lb small potatoes
• 4lbs shrimp, crawfish, or a mix
• 1 stick butter
• 1 lemongrass stalk, halved and smashed
• 2 heads garlic, halved horizontally
• 1/2 cup Zatarain's Crawfish, Shrimp & Crab Boil
• 4 thai chilies, optional
• 1/3 cup fish sauce
• 3 Tbsp canna-butter
• 2 limes, halved

Directions:
1. Fill a large stock pot half full with water and 1/4 cup salt. Add the potatoes and bring the water to a boil. Cook until tender, about 10-15 minutes.
2. While the water is at a rolling boil, drop in shrimp or crawfish and cook for 3 minutes. Strain potatoes and seafood.
3. Return drained stock pot to the stove over medium heat. Heat butter and add lemongrass and garlic to sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Turn the heat down to medium-low, add 1/4 cup water, Zatarain's, optional chilies, fish sauce, canna-butter, and squeeze the juice of one lime into the stock pot. Add the seafood and potatoes and toss to coat. Let the seafood heat through for about 3 minutes.
5. Serve in a large bowl with fresh lime wedges and enjoy with an ice cold beer.