NOTES: I use a 12-quart pot for this recipe and would cook six pounds of crawfish at a time.

Crawfish season is around the month of April and May in Louisiana. Crawfish boil at the Vietnamese Cajun restaurants in Orlando cost about $16.99 per pound! I can’t afford that for my little foodies and plus the restaurant’s version are too garlicky and too spicy for them. So I attempted my DIY kid-friendly crawfish boil version.

Little Ethan’s response: “Mommy! This is the best crawfish I have ever tasted! I rate your crawfish ten stars out of five!”

Me: “What does ten stars out of five mean?”

Ethan: “The best of the best!”

So I hope your little foodies like this crawfish boil recipe just like my kids do too!

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients: I mix this and store in mason jars for a quick fix.

• 1/2 cup “J.O. No. 2 Crab Seasoning” from Maryland
• 1/4 cup Lee Kum Kee Chicken Bouillon
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup lemongrass powder
• 2 Tbsp onion powder
• 2 tBsp Paprika powder
• 1 tBsp garlic powder
• 1 tBsp ginger powder
• 1 tBsp ground black pepper

Fresh ingredients:

• 2 garlic bulbs
• 1 lb shallots
• 2-4 sweet yellow onions
• 1 piece chunky fresh ginger
• 4-6 SWEET navel oranges
• 3 cups Chinese Celery or regular celery – diced
• 4-6 corn on the cob (optional)

Other ingredients:

• 5, 10, or 15 pounds live crawfish
• 1 gallon water
• 1/2 gallon Sunny D orange juice punch or Tampico orange punch
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup cornstarch + 1/2 cup water

Thickening Sauce: To be updated for this part next time when I have all the ingredients.

Bonus: I would use the leftover crawfish to boil a whole chicken. It’s so aromatic and citrusy juicy and delicious!

Directions:

1.. Wash and rinse live crawfish in a big cooler. Just big enough for the crawfish not to crawl out of the cooler is the ideal size.

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2. Prep the fresh ingredients. Peel and blend the garlic, shallots, ginger, and onions in the Kitchen Aid chopper.

3. Set timer to 30 minutes. Heat up a 12-quart pot and add in two sticks of unsalted butter because the salted butter only makes the brother saltier. Add in the blended onion mixture. Stir and cook onion mixture for at least two minutes or until you smell the aroma. Pour in a gallon of water.

4. Add in the HALF gallon of Tampico or Sunny D juice. Squeeze in the orange juice and toss in the rinds too. Pour in the Coco Rico soda or substitute with sugar as the sweetener. Add in the celery.

5. Pour in 1.5 cup DIY Seafood and Crawfish Boil Seasoning Mix. (Self note: Do not add more than 1.5 cup be used it will be too salty for my kids.) Optional: Add corn on the cobs at this time. Stir and cook this seafood broth for thirty minutes on light constant boil for thirty minutes.

6. After cooking the broth for thirty minutes, take out the corn if corn was added. Bring the broth to a hard boil on high heat.

Pour in the live crawfish. This will lower the temperature. Turn off the heat as soon the crawfish starts to boil for two to three minutes. Immediately turn off the stove and slide the pot over to a non-hot surface. Let the crawfish soak in the broth for thirty minutes. The crawfish is continuing being cooked while soaking in the hot broth. Do not cover the pot with a lid. Cooking the crawfish any longer will overcook the crawfish making the meat texture dry and chewy.

Note: Depending on the different type of stove and heat setting, you might want to try a small batch and time it first until you get an idea how long to boil the crawfish. Boiling time can be anywhere from two to five minutes depending on stove and size of crawfish.

7. While letting the crawfish to soak in the flavored broth, prep the thickening sauce. I will take pictures of ingredients and update with instruction next time.

8. Scoop the crawfish out into a deep aluminum party tray. Serve immediately.

If you decide to make the thickening sauce, this is the time to drizzle the sauce over the tray of boiled crawfish. Enjoy!

Behind the scenes:

For my fellow gardeners, don’t throw away the crawfish shells! I would blend it in my Vitamix and till the blended stuff into my garden soil around my fruit trees or add it to the raised beds.