Watching Ugly Delicious again.

I don't eat crawfish, so bear with me.

'Traditional' Cajun style crawfish boil, they put spices in the water and boil the crawfish live with potatoes and corn in the boil. When it is done, the spices are absorbed into the crawfish in the process. This is why they say you can taste the spices when you suck the head.

Viet-Cajun style, they boil the crawfish in just water, then toss in Vietnamese spices and/or a sauce after the crawfish are done.

Isn't Viet-Cajun really just treating crawfish like they're hot wings? It sounds like a Wing Stop approach to crawfish.

Isn't tossing it in spices or tossing it in a sauce after it is cooked the same thing they do with wings?

SACR said:

---

Viet-Cajun style, they boil the crawfish in just water, then toss in Vietnamese spices and/or a sauce after the crawfish are done.

---

Not always the case. Some will do it regular cajun-style with seasoned boil and then add the sauce after.

I am not 100% sure on the broscience, but we have been cooking/steaming our crawfish in plain water then dropping them into a soak that is cajun spiced. They get their flavor from the soak.

ipsofacto it doesn't matter what you cook them in, just what they sit in after they are cooked.,

yes

dummble said:

---

I am not 100% sure on the broscience, but we have been cooking/steaming our crawfish in plain water then dropping them into a soak that is cajun spiced. They get their flavor from the soak.

ipsofacto it doesn't matter what you cook them in, just what they sit in after they are cooked.,

---

That was another thing, traditional is boiling, while Viet-Cajun could also use steaming, right?

My nail lady said they boiled them in orange juice.

That's what I started doing based on a post on Texags around 10 years ago. I boil with lemon and some bay leaves and sometimes some onions and then do a separate warm water "soak" pot. It really yields much more consistent results and you don't have people waiting around for the "later" more seasoned batches.

I've done them once. Doing it again in couple weeks. Soak pot with orange juice,lemons,lemon grass, heavy garlic, and whatever Cajun spices you prefer. I think i used frozen concentrate. Tossed in butter and more garlic.

Going to do the same with half. Other I'm going to try boiling in water and to the wok with the mixture. Might also try Chinese spices.

I think Juicy Crawfish in College Station cooks them that style.