Viet Cajun Crawfish appears as a signature dish in 1 United States cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Viet-Cajun crawfish · Houston
Live Louisiana crawfish boiled in lemongrass-and-spice court bouillon, then tossed in garlic butter laced with cayenne, paprika and Vietnamese seasonings. Eaten by hand off newspaper.
Viet-Cajun crawfish was developed by Vietnamese-American boilers in the Houston Asiatown along Bellaire Boulevard through the 2000s. The base technique came from the Cajun boil tradition that Vietnamese refugees encountered when they settled along the Gulf Coast in the 1970s and 80s. The breakthrough was adding garlic, butter, lemongrass, ginger and chillies to the post-boil toss. Trong Nguyen opened Crawfish and Noodles in 2008 and got a James Beard semifinalist nod by 2018. Cajun House, Cajun Kitchen and the LA-based Boiling Crab chain all trace back to the Houston style. Crawfish season runs late February to early June; the boil tradition has since gone national.
Where to eat in Houston:
- Crawfish and Noodles