Main Dishes

Perfect Cajun Crawfish Boil with Spicy Butter

You may not be down in the bayou, but you can definitely make your house and dreams smell like it with this delicious cajun crawfish boil. And to top it off, I made a cajun spicy butter ready to knock ya socks off.

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Prep
45 minutes
Cook
40 minutes
Total
1 hour, 25 minutes
Serves
8
people
Perfect Cajun Crawfish Boil with Spicy Butter
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Ingredients

Boil Seasoning:

  • ⅓ cup (80g) smoked paprika
  • ¾ cup (180g) Old Bay seasoning
  • 3 Tbsp (30g) ground cayenne
  • 2 Tbsp (20g) mustard powder
  • 3.5 Tbsp (35g) kosher salt
  • 2 Tbsp (20g) granulated sugar
  • 3 Tbsp (30g) freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp (10g) coriander seeds, lightly toasted and ground
  • 2 Tbsp (10g) dried thyme, crushed

‍Spicy Cajun Butter:

  • 1 lb (454g) unsalted butter
  • 12 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 Tbsp (30g) boil seasoning
  • 1 Tbsp (10g) smoked paprika
  • 2 Tbsp (20g) Old Bay seasoning

‍The Boil:

  • 2.5 lb (1135g) live crawfish (or omit and just use 5-6 lb of head-on shrimp)
  • 2 lemons, sliced
  • 2 yellow onions, roughly chopped
  • 1 Tbsp hondashi (10g), optional
  • 1 cup (236mL) shiro dashi
  • 2 garlic heads, halved crosswise 
  • 5 bay leaves
  • Remaining boil seasoning
  • Kosher salt, to taste 
  • 2 Tbsp (30mL) Crystal hot sauce
  • 15 whole red potatoes
  • 2 lb (908g) large, smoked cooked sausage, such as kielbasa, cut into 2-3” (5-7.5cm) pieces
  • 1 King crab, broken down into 2 leg clusters (of 4 each)
  • 2.5 lb (1135g) head-on shrimp
  • 6 ears corn, peeled and halved

Directions

Boil Seasoning:

  1. In a medium bowl whisk together the smoked paprika, Old Bay, cayenne, mustard powder, salt, sugar, black pepper, toasted ground coriander and dried thyme. Set aside.

‍Spicy Cajun Butter:

  1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the butter to melt. 
  2. Into the butter, add the garlic, stir to combine and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until the garlic is very soft. 
  3. Add the 3 Tbsp of boil seasoning, smoked paprika and Old Bay. Stir together and cook for 30 seconds until the spices are lightly toasted and fragrant. Set aside in the saucepan to re-melt when ready to serve. 

‍The Boil:

  1. In an extra-large stock pot (about 40 qt / 38L) fitted with the accompanying steamer basket, add enough water until it reaches just over the top of the basket. Bring to a boil over high heat.
  1. Add the crawfish to a large vessel. Cover with water and let them sit for about 8 minutes, to purge. Drain the dirty water, fill again to cover with clean water, gently stir, and drain again. Fill one more time with water and drain a final time, for a total of two rinses. 
  2. Into the boiling water, add the lemon, onions, hondashi, if using, shirodashi, garlic and bay leaves. Using a large paddle, gently stir.
  3. Add the remaining boil seasoning and season, to taste, with salt. 
  4. Add the hot sauce, bring to a boil and add the potatoes. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are almost cooked through but not fully tender.
  5. Add the sausage, stir, and then add the crawfish, crab leg clusters and shrimp. Gently stir to evenly distribute. Cover the pot, reduce the heat and boil for 10 minutes. 
  6. Turn off the heat and add in your corn. Gently stir once more and let the corn sit in the mixture for 5 minutes or until it is nice and hot.
  7. To serve, cover the table with butcher paper or newspaper. 
  8. Carefully lift the steamer basket out of the pot and allow as much of the water to drain.
  9. Dump and spread the boil onto the paper-covered table.
  10. Re-melt the Spicy Cajun Butter and smother the boil with the butter, making sure to leave some on the side for dipping. 

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