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)
Viet-Cajun Garlic Butter
Ingredients
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
2 tbsp neutral oil
10–12 cloves garlic, finely minced
¼ cup finely minced lemongrass
1 small shallot, finely minced
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tbsp Cajun seasoning
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp white pepper
1 tsp sugar
1½–2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce (optional)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp fresh lime juice
2–3 tbsp reserved seafood boil broth
2 tbsp chopped scallions
2 tbsp chopped cilantro (optional)
Instructions
Melt the butter and neutral oil over medium-low heat.
Add the lemongrass and cook for 4–5 minutes until fragrant.
Stir in the shallot and cook another 2 minutes until softened.
Add the garlic and ginger and cook just until fragrant, about 1–2 minutes. Avoid browning the garlic.
Stir in the Old Bay, Cajun seasoning, smoked paprika, white pepper, and sugar.
Remove from the heat. Stir in the fish sauce, oyster sauce (if using), lemon juice, lime juice, and reserved seafood boil broth.
Blend briefly with an immersion blender if you prefer a smoother, restaurant-style sauce.
Fold in the scallions and cilantro just before tossing with the seafood or use it as a dipping sauce along side nuoc cham!
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
Rinse, cut, prep garlic and all vegetables.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.Plate all seafood on a large platter, serve hot, and garnish with some fresh scallions.