Viet-Cajun Boiled Shrimp

Viet-Cajun Boiled Shrimp

A generation or so ago, there was a large influx of Vietnamese people along the entire Gulf coast and Vietnamese people are especially common in the shrimping industry. The Vietnamese people brought a great work ethic and wonderful food. Vietnamese food and Cajun food seem to blend well together and this is one of those dishes. It takes good boiled shrimp, adds a unique butter sauce, and makes everything better. You can easily adjust this recipe for larger amounts of shrimp.

First, boil the shrimp.

1 gallon	water
1 bag	crab boil (we use Zatarain's)
8 oz (by weight, approximately ¾ cup)	salt
1	lemon, cut in half
1	orange, cut in half
1 medium	onion peeled and cut in half
1 cup	liquid crab boil (we use Zatarain's)
8 to 12	small red potatoes, cut in half
8 to 12	half ears of corn. (frozen works fine)
8 to 12	1½" pieces of andouille, polish, or your favorite smoked sausage
1 lb	mushroom, washed, stems trimmed, and sliced in half
4 to 5 lbs	shrimp (with heads, headed, peeled, in the shell, it really doesn't matter)

Put the water in a large pot. Add the bag of crab boil, salt, lemon, orange and onion to the water and bring to a boil. Don't add the liquid crab boil yet as it will make you cough in the next step.

Keep the water at a rolling boil for 5 minutes to get the flavor from the lemon, orange, and onion. After five minutes, add the liquid crab boil and bring everything back to a rolling boil.

Now add the potatoes and bring everything to a rolling boil. Boil the potatoes for 6 minutes.

Now add the corn, sausage, and mushrooms. Bring everything back to a rolling boil and boil for 2 minutes.

When the 2 minutes are up, add the shrimp and bring it back to a boil. As soon as the water boils, the shrimp are done. Turn the heat off, cover the pot, and let everything sit for 5 minutes. Reserve one half cup of the water from the boil then dump everything in a colander and strain.

Discard the lemon, orange, and onions, but save the bag crab boil. The shrimp are ready to serve now, but the next step adds a nice finishing touch.

Transfer the shrimp to a large bowl. Grab the bag of crab boil and cut the top off of it. For every pound of shrimp, scoop out one and a half teaspoons of the brown and yellow mustard seeds, and add these to everything in the colander. Stir well.

Now make the Viet-Cajun butter sauce.

¾ cup (1½ sticks)	butter
1 oz	canola oil
8 cloves	garlic, minced
1½ tbl	Creole or Cajun Seasoning
1½ tsp	paprika
½ tsp	freshly ground black pepper
1½ tsp	brown sugar
1½ tsp	fish sauce
1½ tsp	soy sauce
1½ tsp	Worcestershire sauce
1	orange, zest & juice
1 tsp	lemon pepper (if you are using lemon grass, delete this)
2 tbl	lemon grass, just the white parts, finely sliced (If you can't get lemon grass, use the lemon pepper listed above)
3 tbl	cilantro, finely chopped
2	green onions, the white and green parts, finely sliced
½ cup	reserved water from the shrimp boil

Heat the butter & canola oil until the butter is hot and bubbly. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add everything else except the liquid from the boil. Bring it back to bubbling while stirring well. Turn the heat off. Add the liquid from the boil to thin the sauce if you’d like.

Pour the butter sauce over the boiled shrimp and everything else you boiled. Stir well, and serve .

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