Crab Boil, Wilmington, NC Style

Now I love a good fried seafood meal as much as the next girl.  And I have to admit I was skeptical when our weekend guests said that a crab boil would be a relatively quick and delicious meal that would feed seven.  Even so, my husband braved the tourist traffic in Wrightsville Beach and headed to Mott's Landing to pick up the needed stuff.

These are the ingredients we used:  sweet white corn, onion, new red (small) potatoes, shrimp, and crablegs.  We started out with a huge pot and boiled water with Old Bay, set it to boil.  We added potatoes, corn, onion, crablegs, and shrimp in that order.  It turned out to be beautiful and plenty of food for all of us.

The shellfish boil comes primarily from southern Louisiana where the primary shellfish is crawfish, but there are other regions in which the shellfish boil is a great local favorite.   South Carolina offers one that is very much like a Louisiana boil, usually involving shrimp, corn on the cob, sausage, and red potatoes and is considered part of "lowcountry cuisine." Known variously as Frogmore Stew, Beaufort Stew, a Beaufort boil, a lowcountry boil, or a tidewater boil, they tend be a bit milder than their Louisiana Cajun and Creole cousins. Our meal was more similar to the South Carolina one, except we forgot the sausage (which is fine with me because I'm not a huge fan of sausage anyway).  While shrimp are most often used, crabs and or crawfish may be included if available. This is also a bit different from a Louisiana boil, which usually involves just one kind of shellfish.

I almost forgot two very important ingredients-- the juicy lemons we squeezed over the entire dish and the melted butter into which we dipped these tasty treats.