History

Vegas's Spring Mountain Road Chinatown corridor developed the Asian-Cajun crawfish boil format from 2007, when Hot N Juicy Crawfish opened with the now-famous bag-and-butter-sauce service. The Vietnamese owners adapted the classic Louisiana Cajun boil with lemongrass, ginger, and shrimp paste. The format spread across the city and to other US cities; the Vegas version remains the reference.

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Common allergens: Shellfish, Soy

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 45 minTotal 1 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 3kg live Louisiana crawfish (or substitute large prawns or crab claws if crawfish are unavailable in your region)
  • 1kg small new potatoes
  • 6 ears of corn, halved
  • 500g andouille or smoked sausage, cut into thick rounds
  • For the boil: 4L water
  • 4 lemons halved
  • 1 head of garlic halved
  • 6 bay leaves
  • 3 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
  • 60g Cajun crab boil spice mix (Zatarain's or similar)
  • 4 stalks lemongrass smashed
  • 1 thumb fresh ginger sliced
  • 200g coarse salt
  • For the butter-garlic-lemongrass sauce: 250g unsalted butter
  • 1 entire head of garlic finely chopped
  • 2 stalks lemongrass finely minced
  • 4 tbsp Cajun seasoning
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp shrimp paste (optional, for proper Vegas flavour)
  • 1 small bunch parsley chopped
  • 1 small bunch scallions chopped
  • To serve: hot French baguette, plastic gloves, large clear plastic bags or a wide newspaper-covered table

Method

  1. Purge crawfish: place in a deep cooler, cover with cold water, add 1 cup of salt, stir vigorously and let sit 10 minutes. Drain and rinse twice; the muddy water drains out, the crawfish come clean.
  2. Bring boil water with lemons, garlic, bay, Old Bay, crab boil mix, lemongrass, ginger, and salt to a rolling boil in a 20L stock pot.
  3. Add potatoes and sausage; boil 12 minutes.
  4. Add corn; boil 6 more minutes.
  5. Add crawfish; boil exactly 3 minutes once the water returns to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, let steep 15 minutes; this is when the crawfish absorb the spice.
  6. Make the sauce while the crawfish steep: melt butter in a wide pan over low heat. Add garlic and lemongrass, cook 4 minutes without browning.
  7. Stir in Cajun seasoning, lemon juice, brown sugar, fish sauce, and shrimp paste. Simmer 3 minutes.
  8. Drain crawfish, potatoes, corn, and sausage. Tip into a large clear plastic bag or directly onto a newspaper-covered table.
  9. Pour the hot butter-garlic-lemongrass sauce over the top. Toss to coat (with gloves) or massage the bag firmly.
  10. Scatter parsley and scallions. Serve immediately with French baguette to mop the sauce and plenty of napkins.

Tip from the editors. The 15-minute post-boil steep is what separates Vegas crawfish from generic Louisiana crawfish; the off-heat soak is when the spice penetrates. Skipping it gives crawfish with hot shells and bland meat.

Where to eat vegas cajun-asian crawfish boil

Vegas Cajun-Asian Crawfish Boil in Las Vegas

Hot N Juicy Crawfish ★ 4.3

$ Street foodSpring Mountain Chinatown

Hot N Juicy Crawfish on Spring Mountain Road in Las Vegas is the original Chinatown boil counter, serving crawfish, shrimp and Dungeness in the house Hot N.

TryCajun crawfish boil by the pound, signature garlic butter

TipOrder by the pound with corn and potatoes; ask for the Hot N Juicy seasoning at medium heat for the balance of garlic, lemon-pepper and Cajun.

Directions

Lola's A Louisiana Kitchen ★ 4.1

$$ Cajun & CreoleSummerlin

Lola's A Louisiana Kitchen in Summerlin Las Vegas is the Town Center Drive Cajun-Creole room, pulling Leidenheimer's New Orleans French bread for po'boys.

Why locals goSummerlin gumbo room on Town Center Drive that imports Leidenheimer's French bread from New Orleans for the po'boys.

TipSit on the patio Wednesday through Friday for the 16:00-19:00 happy hour; po'boys are served on Leidenheimer's bread, the roast beef with gravy is the order.

Directions

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