Ingredients
48 oz. light beer, like a lager
52 oz. orange juice
3/4 c. Seafood Boil, such as Zatarain’s or Louisiana Fish Fry’s
1 bay leaf
1 onion, trimmed on both ends, peeled, and quartered
1 orange, quartered
6 red potatoes, quartered
2 ears of corn, husked, cut into 2-inch pieces
12 oz. Andouille sausage, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 lb. shrimp, raw, deveined, tail-on, head-off
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 head garlic, minced
1 lime, halved
1 tbsp. kosher salt
1/2 tbsp. black pepper
4 limes, quartered
Mayonnaise
Preparation
Step 1In a large stock pot over medium heat, combine beer, orange juice, seafood boil, bay leaf, onion, orange, and red potato quarters and bring to boil. Boil for 15 minutes.Step 2Meanwhile, in a small pan over medium-low heat, melt butter then add minced garlic. Remove from heat. Step 3Once the 15 minutes are up, add corn and sausage slices and simmer for 5 minutes. Step 4Add shrimp. If there’s not enough liquid to cover the shrimp entirely, add more beer (or water if you’ve run out of beer).Step 5Turn off the heat as soon as the shrimp starts turning pink (within the first minute). Let the mixture sit there and soak in the spices for an additional 5 minutes.Step 6Remove the onions, orange slices, and bay leaf. (If it’s not easy to do so, don’t worry about it; just don’t eat those later.) Step 7Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the boil liquid. Step 8Dump potatoes, corn, sausage, shrimp, 1/2 cup of the boil liquid, and the garlic-butter sauce into a large sturdy bag (a 2.5 gallon resealable bag will do). Seal and shake to get that extra coat of garlic-butter sauce over everything.Step 9Cover your dining table with newspapers and serve your creation communally, either in a giant bowl in the center of the table, or pour the bag right in the center.Step 10Squeeze the lime halves over the shrimp before serving so they get an extra pop of lime juice. For an extra Vietnamese twist, serve the shrimp with a salt-pepper-lime dip. (See below.)
Step 1In a small bowl, mix together salt and pepper, then distribute into individual sauce dishes for each diner. Step 2Each diner can squeeze two lime quarters into their sauce dish and reload with more lime juice as necessary. Alternatively, some people (like my sister), like dipping their Vietnamese-Cajun seafood into mayonnaise.
For this recipe, I’ve consulted my Uncle Linh, the boil master of our family. Instead of a traditional crawfish boil, I wanted to do a shrimp boil because it’s easier to find shrimp around the country, year-round, and you don’t have to deal with having to boil crawfish alive. But, whatever the ingredients, the most important things to include in a boil are good friends and family. Also, disposable gloves and bibs wouldn’t hurt either. Have you made this recipe? Comment and rate it below!
