Hot Cajun-Style Crab Boil

Name: Hot Cajun-Style Crab Boil
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Cajun
Ingredients: 2 bags (3 ounces each) commercial crab-boil seasoning, or equivalent amount of your own spice mixture (see article); Salt, to taste; 2 pounds medium onions (about 8), peeled; 3 pounds small potatoes (about 24), washed but not peeled; 24 live medium blue crabs; 2 pounds kielbasa, cut into 3-inch pieces; 35 to 40 cloves garlic (3 heads), unpeeled; 12 ears sweet corn, hulled

By Jacques Pépin

Published September 13, 1994

Total Time: 1¼ hours
Rating: 5(44)
Comments: Read comments

A trip to Avery Island, La., the home of Tabasco sauce, inspired this Jacques Pépin recipe from 1994. A few years earlier, Paul McIlhenny, the fourth generation of his family to produce the hot sauce, served Mr. Pépin and his wife a bountiful crab boil. ” People helped themselves,” Mr. Pépin wrote, adding, “We washed the banquet down with plenty of cold beer.” Here, he substitutes blue crab for crawfish, and kielbasa for the hot Cajun sausage. But whatever you use, keep Mr. Pépin’s recommendation and have a beer alongside.

Featured in: THE PURPOSEFUL COOK; A Cajun Feast From the Land of Tabasco

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings

2 bags (3 ounces each) commercial crab-boil seasoning, or equivalent amount of your own spice mixture (see article)
Salt, to taste
2 pounds medium onions (about 8), peeled
3 pounds small potatoes (about 24), washed but not peeled
24 live medium blue crabs
2 pounds kielbasa, cut into 3-inch pieces
35 to 40 cloves garlic (3 heads), unpeeled
12 ears sweet corn, hulled

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Place 2 gallons of water and the crab-boil seasoning in a large stockpot, cover and bring to a boil. (Note: This can be done a few hours ahead, set aside and brought back to a boil at serving time to intensify the stock flavor.) Add salt to taste.
Step 2
Add the onions and potatoes to the boiling stock, cover and bring the stock back to a boil. Boil gently for 10 minutes.
Step 3
Meanwhile, rinse the crabs well in a sink filled with cold water. Using metal tongs, lift the crabs from the sink, and after discarding any dead or smelly crabs, add them to the stockpot with the sausage and garlic. Bring the mixture back to a boil, and boil gently for 5 minutes.
Step 4
Add the corn, and bring the mixture back to a boil. Then, turn off the heat, and let the pot sit (up to 1 hour) until serving time.
Step 5
At serving time, drain off the stock, and arrange crab boil ingredients separately on a large platter. Serve with the hot mayonnaise (see following recipe), if desired.