A Spicy Lobster and Clam Boil to Finish Summer Strong

Every week, we spotlight a different food blogger who’s shaking up the blogosphere with tempting recipes and knockout photography. Here, food blogger Betty Liu spices things up with a lobster and clam boil flavored with fiery Szechuan peppers.

Photo: Betty Liu 

I used to go to a restaurant called Boiling Crab, which is a Cajun-style seafood boil spot. The line would be an hour to two hours-worth of waiting, and I’d would always order a bag of shrimp with corn, sausage, and potatoes. The shrimp arrived in a plastic bag and everything was drenched in a buttery, spicy sauce called “The Whole Shebang.” My dining companions and I tied bibs around our necks and just plunged our hands into the bag. Invariably, we’d get sauce all over our hands, smudges around our mouths, and the smell of butter and garlic stayed in our hair and clothes for days. But it was good. It was really, really good.

For my version, I did what my Chinese family usually does: add fresh ginger, garlic, scallions, and some chiles for seasoning. And then I dumped some gochugaru flakes and some Szechuan peppercorns, because why not bump up the heat a bit?

Lobster and Clam Boil with Szechuan Peppers

For the boil:
3 live lobsters (or equivalent in crabs)
1.5 pounds clam (or equivalent in shrimp)
5 ears corn, shucked and halved
½ pound small potatoes, or more to taste
2 medium-sized onions, quartered
3 slices fresh ginger
2 stalks scallion, roughly chopped
4-5 dried chilis (optional)
2 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorn (optional)
2.5 tablespoon gochugaru (optional)
2 heads garlic, the point part sliced off

For the gochugaru-butter sauce:
1.5 sticks butter
2 teaspoon gochugaru (Korean chile flakes)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Fill a large stock pot, large enough to fit your lobsters, with water. Bring to a boil and liberally salt water and add seasonings: chilis, peppercorns, an gochugaru. Add ginger, garlic, onion, and scallions into the water. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, you can start sauce: Melt butter, add in garlic till aromatic, then add in the seasonings — simmer on low for another 5 minutes.

When water in pot is boiling, cook lobsters according to average weight on all lobsters. (I did 11 minutes.) Meanwhile, tie clams very loosely with cheese cloth. This is to prevent clam meat from sinking to the bottom of the pot. When there are 7 minutes left to lobster, add in clams — watch to see when they open up.

Remove lobster. Cool lobster for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add potatoes to water and cook for 5 minutes, then add corn and boil another 5 minutes. Remove potatoes when fork tender.

Drain the rest of the items in the pot, and dump onto newspaper or disposable plastic cloth. Prepare lots of paper towels, a cold drink, and just have fun. Oh, and definitely have a waste bucket for cobs and shell.

More seafood specialties:

Grilled Clams with Garlic Butter from ‘Feeding the Fire’

Blue Crab and Chipotle Bisque Recipe From ‘The Domestic Man’

Shrimp and Smoked Gouda Grits Recipe From ‘Chocolate & Marrow’