Every morning, the kitchen at the Crawfish Café in Pearland, TX, is a hive of activity as fresh crawfish arrive daily from Louisiana. This year’s crawfish season has been particularly strong, with good-sized crawfish available since December, said Crawfish Café co-owner Kiet Duong.
In the sorting area, Duong explained the importance of quality control. “We want to make sure we’re not serving any dead crawfish,” he said. The team carefully hand-sorts the crawfish, removing debris and unwanted materials before cooking.
Next, crawfish are placed in something akin to a spa bath designed to rinse off any extra dirt. “You’re basically giving them a bath,” Duong said, emphasizing the importance of cleanliness in the cooking process. After washing, the crawfish are sent off to get cooked, boiled in clean water for about ten minutes, before being left to soak in a flavorful broth for an additional 30 minutes.
The broth is infused with Cajun and Vietnamese spices along with orange juice, which Duong said is a typical ingredient in many Vietnamese recipes. Duong said the rise of Viet Cajun flavors in Houston emerged after Houston saw an influx of Vietnamese people moving from Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. This blend of flavors has become a hallmark of the city’s culinary scene.
Check out behind-the-scenes in the kitchen at the Crawfish Café in Pearland in the video here:
Once the crawfish have soaked in the flavorful broth, it’s time to order and customize.
Crawfish Café co-owner Julie Nguyen explained the steps to enjoying crawfish:
- First, choose your seafood. Crawfish Café uses all kinds of fresh seafood in its boils.
- Next, you can choose a flavor from one of the seven sauces or three signature blends.
- The third step involves picking a spice level, ranging from mild to extra spicy, with an adventurous option of Carolina Reaper for the brave.
- After selecting sauces and spice levels, diners can add sides like corn, potatoes, and sausage to their boil bags.
Nguyen said guests can tailor flavors to suit their taste buds. “We have Signature, which is our most popular blend, Garlic Butter, and Kicking Cajun,” Julie explained. Other options include Original Cajun, a traditional Louisiana style, and Texas Cajun, a house blend with a dry rub.
Watch Houston Life’s Melanie Camp learn the Crawfish Café way to eat a mudbug in the video above!
And whether it is National Crawfish Day or any other day of the week, it is always a good time to enjoy a boil of mudbugs!
The Crawfish Café has five locations across Houston, and its newest restaurant recently opened in Pearland. Find it online at crawfishcafe.com.