By Samin Nosrat
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes (mostly waiting for the water to boil)
- Rating
- 4(519)
- Notes
- Read community notes
In New Orleans, a seafood boil, the Southern tradition of gathering around a newspaper-lined table to eat large amounts of boiled shellfish with your bare hands, is all about salt and spice. In the words of Jared Austin, a Mississippi riverboat pilot and seafood-boil master, ‘‘Nothing about any of this is subtle — people standing around the pot should sneeze and cough.’’ The key to a successful shrimp boil is layering ingredients into the pot so that everything is done cooking at once: First add the potatoes and sausage, then the shrimp, then the frozen corn to bring the temperature down and prevent overcooking. Let it all soak to absorb the salt and spice, then dump it out onto the table and eat with copious amounts of rémoulade. While this recipe can easily be halved, it’s a simple — and extraordinarily fun — way to feed a crowd. Just remember to heed Austin’s advice: ‘‘Don’t be afraid of cayenne. Don’t be afraid to let your nose run.’’
Featured in: A Cajun Seasoned Boil for a Big Party
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Ingredients
Yield:10 to 12 servings
- 3(3-ounce) Louisiana or Zatarain’s brand seafood-boil seasoning pouches
- ¼cup cayenne-pepper powder
- 1½cups kosher salt (or ⅔ cup fine sea salt)
- 2yellow onions, peeled and halved through root
- 3celery ribs, cut into 3-inch pieces
- 2lemons, quartered
- 4heads garlic
- 6ears corn, shucked and cut into 3-inch pieces
- 2½pounds small (2-inch) red potatoes
- 212-ounce kielbasi, cut into 3-inch pieces
- 6pounds shrimp, preferably with shells on
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
411 calories; 4 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 48 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 53 grams protein; 1052 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Fill a very large (24-quart) pot with 8 quarts of water set over high heat. Add seasoning pouches, cayenne, salt, onions and celery. Squeeze lemon juice, and add wedges. Break garlic into cloves, and discard excess skin, then add unpeeled cloves. Cover the pot, and bring to a rolling boil.
Step
2
Lay corn on a baking sheet in a single layer, then place in freezer.
Step
3
Taste the water after it comes to a boil. It should be very heavily salted and spiced, with a bright orange foam (when standing near the boiling pot causes you to cough, it’s spicy enough).
Step
4
Add potatoes and sausage to the pot, and let the water return to a boil. Turn off heat, and allow to soak for 10 minutes or until potatoes are barely tender when pierced with a knife. Bring the water to a boil, and add shrimp. Cook for 3 minutes, then turn off heat, add corn and allow to soak for 7 minutes. Drain, and serve immediately with rémoulade (preferably on a newspaper-lined table).
- To prepare 5 to 6 servings, halve the amounts in the recipe but follow timing as directed.
Ratings
4
out of 5
519
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
Jennifer
I have lived in South Louisiana for 38 years, including Lafayette, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Nowhere have I ever seen remoulade sauce at a shrimp boil. That is usually reserved for cold shrimp in a co*cktail at a fancy meal, like Galatoire's. I doubt the riverboat captain uses it either.
June
I make it myself. Mayo, thai chili sauce (sambal oelek - available everywhere in the condiments aisle - plastic jar with green cover), finely chopped cornichons, sweet pickle relish, coarse dijon mustard, pickle juice, lots of minced garlic, white horseradish -- all to taste --- it should be a pale pink color (from mayo and sambal combo). There are a lot of recipes online for it... all easy. Some may appeal to you more than others. But a very yummy addition to a meal like this.
Jess
Remoulade????
David L
Don’t be afraid to throw in other side items for variety. Cut the top off pods of garlic and throw them in the pot for a great side appetizer. After cooking, enjoy the cloves directly or spread over some crispy bread. Some throw in button mushrooms. If you’re feeding a large group requiring multiple boils from the pot, throw your cooked food into a big cooler to keep your food steamy hot. Remember to reaseason the water with each new batch, and watch as people migrate to the spicier batches.
BklynMom
Better proportions: 4-5 lbs shrimp, twice as much andouille and 10 ears corn. Cook those potatoes until almost done before adding shrimp/corn. I didn't freeze corn and added with shrimp, brought to boil then turned off heat for 3 minutes. Used a rouille/remoulade hybrid, it's a MUST for this dish. I have one of those big ol' single propane burners (for lobster) and a giant pot -- gets the water boiling FAST -- great investment if you cook this sort of thing now and then...
rosemary patterson
Looks sensational except for one thing. Nobody down south seems to devein their shrimp. So I for one would change this recipe to add the comment to clean the shrimp and leave tails on. That should do it.
Andrea Tyree
No, You need to leave the shells on the shrimp. Bare shrimp with little tails are all wrong--and won't taste right.
Kevin
How many ounces are in each of the 3 seasoning pouches?
Beth
No, you never peel shrimp for a shrimp boil, they will be too spicy if you peel them--assuming you follow the directions on the amount of cayenne, etc. No kidding you should cough or choke when you get near the pot--as the directions say.
Martha
Where I come from we call this Frogmore Stew. And yes, we devein our shrimp while leaving the shells on.
Capt
The seafood boil bag contains mustard seed, coriander seed, cayenne pepper flakes, bay leafs (maybe 1/3 cup) dill seed, allspice, White peppercorns.I would toast the spices in a dry pan then put them in a cheese cloth pouch. Each bag is approximately 3ozI don’t know the exact proportions but anything you come up with will be as good if not better than a commercial mix. Good luck!
Mary from Terry, MS
We peel and devein the shrimp as we eat it. Even little kids know how to peel and devein shrimp down here.
Jessie
Halved the recipe and omitted the cayenne completely, but otherwise followed the recipe including times. We loved it. The shrimp (jumbo) were cooked perfectly.
Lal B., New Orleans
Too much spice. Too much soaking. Not enough shrimp.
susie
Use 1/2 amount of chili pepper.
Larry Bennett
This boil is a variation on South Carolina's Frogmore Stew. But Frogmore eschews the onions and celery. I have never seen a remoulade sauce there either. Still, I'd give it a try. But all you really need is a picnic table, kraft paper, lots of cold beer, and big bowl for shells. My wife, who is a Yankee, doesn't get it. Some things can not be taught.
GC
Hi! Made this for 4th, was good. Left out cajun spices - put only lemon quarters, bay leaves and black peppercorns in water. Then potatoes, once soft added freshly shucked corn (did not freeze it), then after few minutes added shrimp on top. Cooked a few more minutes, maybe five, and dumped out water, put all on huge serving platter. Was delicious with melted butter with lemon and freshly ground pepper for dipping. Everyone ate! Highly recommend! Was sort of light, so cake for dessert. Yum!
Lisa K Olsen
Ok, am in the middle of trying this. I get that the cold corn slows down the cooking, what about using frozen shrimp? Messing around with timing.
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Le Forbes
Any kind of sauce you want, add it. We have a remoulade and a spicy co*cktail sauce at the table. We also use andouille sausage to kick up that heat! Many names are given for this: Frogmore, Low Country Boil, and as my Cajun dad calls it: a shrimp boil.
rich
Made halfish recipe. 5/6 quarts water 2TB LIquid Zatarains shrimp n crab boil. 1 lb shrimp, 14 oz sausage. All really good. I’d maybe add more Z spice. But it’s potent. Be careful.Fun dinner..
SarahJA
Made this tonight; so much fun and so good! I do wish I had a place to get real andouille sausage, but the Zataran's brand was passable. It's a definite do again next time I have a crowd! We added crablegs as well. Very tasty!
Mary from Terry, MS
Kielbasa is an acceptable substitute for andouille.
Kim
I cut this recipe in half and was more than dubious about the cooking method and times - especially given some of the earlier comments. Honestly, it worked perfectly! I'm not sure why the recipe suggests putting the corn in the freezer for a few minutes, so I skipped that step and everything was perfect! I didn't know how to cut a seasoning packet in half (the full recipe calls for three), so I just used one. It could've been a bit spicier, but it was still a big hit! And so easy!
Craig Burdick
Made this recipe tonight. No way on earth near frozen corn will cook n seven minutes. I am not trying to be difficult, but this recipe is flawed. I let the corn simmer for about another 10 minutes to get it to the point of being edible. Tossed in the shrimp and let them just cook through. Shrimp and corn were perfect.
Maria
I reduced the recipe to a third of ingredients. It provided 4 servings with sufficient shrimp for all. The corn needed more cooking so I'll add them earlier next time. Don't let the color of the potatoes fool you into thinking they need additional seasoning, taste first, you'll be surprised how well seasoned they are.
Jax
what happened to the corn?
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