Cham’s Asian Seafood Cajun Boil- Recipe

Watch the Instagram cooking reel -here-.

What better way to celebrate AAPI Heritage month than gathering up Danny from @sonfishsauce, and Kim @chamdippingsauce and cooking up a huge seafood boil!

It was so much fun cooking with Kim and Danny. It was actually the first time I made a seafood boil, but it was so easy with this recipe.

Kim’s recipe is a spice-filled Asian Cajun Seafood Boil that is loaded with rich flavor and spice. We used fresh shrimp, manila clams, razor clams, crawfish, and mussels for this finger-lickin’ seafood feast!

We made this pescatarian but feel free to throw in some sausage as well.

PS- This recipe can be adjusted for just cooking crawfish, and/or adding other seafood items (we added razor clams, Manila clams, mussels, Dungeness crabs) but feel free to choose whatever items are in season or in stock and add/subtract lbs as needed according to your party. You want about 3-5 lbs total of seafood per person (5 lbs for heavy seafood eaters, 3 lbs per person on average)

Kim’s seafood tips:
-Add 1 cup of vinegar to your boil to make peeling crawfish easier and to make the seafood more fragrant.
-Add a little premium fish sauce (aka Son Fish sauce) for some added umami to enhance the seafood flavor
-Add 1 jug of Sunny D (it’s a must ingredient that most Asian mothers use)
-Boil your seafood separately, and don’t overcook (we cooked our clams, shrimps, crawfish, and crabs in separate batches to ensure nothing was overcooked)

INGREDIENTS:

1 package Louisiana Crawfish Shrimp & Crab Boil Seasoning, 16 oz

1 package Louisiana Crawfish, Crab & Shrimp Boil liquid, 8 oz

1 package Louisiana Crawfish, Shrimp & Crab Boil, Boil in Bag, 2 0z

1 Gallon Sunny D (Tangy Original) Orange Juice

Tap Water

Brown sugar or rock sugar (to taste)

Salt (to taste)

Premium fish sauce- Son Fish Sauce or equivalent (to taste)

3-5 whole ears of corn (peeled and cut into 3 sections)

1 bag small red potatoes

3 oranges (cut into quarters)

3 lemons (cut in halves)

2-3 white onions (cut into quarters)

25 garlic cloves (minced)

1 bunch of celery (trimmed, cut into about 4” sections)

3-5 Fresh bay leaves

2-3 Andouille sausages (*Optional)

SEAFOOD INGREDIENTS:

15 lbs crawfish (cleaned/rinsed until water runs clear)

5 lbs mussles (cleaned/rinsed, purged)

5 lbs razor clams (cleaned/rinsed)

5 lbs live Manila clams (cleaned/rinsed, purged)

5 lbs head on shrimp (cleaned/rinsed, purged)

10 lbs live dungeness crabs (cleaned/rinsed, purged)

GARNISH:
2-3 bunches scallions (sliced thin)

SERVE WITH:

Cham Dipping Sauce (you can also make your own homemade as well)

PREPARATION

1. Rinse, cut, prep garlic and all vegetables.

2. Rinse all seafood: Scrub and soak the clams in cold salted water (4 tbs sea salt with 8 cups cold tap sater) for 30-60 minutes (let soak in fridge) then rinse the clams until the water becomes clear. Then Set aside.

3. Making the broth: In a large stockpot fill the pot halfway with water and let it come to a boil. Add all Louisiana seasonings. Add Sunny D into the pot and let it come to a boil.

4. Throw potatoes in, let it come to a boil, and let cook for 10 min. Then add all the veggies, garlic, bay leaves, fish sauce, salt, sugar. Then cover and let it come to a boil again.

5. Add all veggies and reduce the heat to medium-low, and vinegar, mix then add crawfish and cook for about 5 min and then remove crawfish.

6. Cook all seafood in batches and remove (cook all clams for about 3-5 min, mussels for about 3-5 min, shrimps for about 3-5 min, Dungeness crab for 5-7 min).
   
   *Note about cooking times: Depending on how hot your pot/broth is, cooking times may vary. Do not overcook, you just want the shrimps to turn pink and remove, and when the clams/mussels open you want to remove them immediately as well. Cooking them too long will render them chewey and overcooked.

7. Plate all seafood on a large platter, serve hot, and garnish with some fresh scallions.