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Hot Cajun-Style Crab Boil

5.0(44)

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.

by Jacques Pepin

Open original recipe

CajunDinner, One Pot, Main Course

Servings

6 servings

Total time

1h 15m

Calories / serving

1075 kcal

Ingredients (8)

serves

2 bags (3 ounces each) commercial crab-boil seasoning, or equivalent amount of your own spice mixture (see article)
Salt, to tastesalt
2 pounds medium onions (about 8), peeledonion
3 pounds small potatoes (about 24), washed but not peeledpotato
24 live medium blue crabscrab
2 pounds kielbasa, cut into 3-inch pieceskielbasa
35 to 40 cloves garlic (3 heads), unpeeledgarlic
12 ears sweet corn, hulledcorn

Instructions (5 steps)

01Place 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.
02Add the onions and potatoes to the boiling stock, cover and bring the stock back to a boil. Boil gently for 10 minutes.
03Meanwhile, 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.