Crawfish at The Boiling Crab in California
[Photographs: Chichi Wang]
I was busy on a recent trip out to Southern California, but not too busy to get my regular fix of crawdads at The Boiling Crab, a chain of New Orleans-inspired seafood shacks with locations throughout Texas and California.
The Boiling Crab is known for two things: their sweet and succulent crawfish, and their signature method of service. Just about everything they serve is cooked and brought to you in a plastic bag, to be dissembled in one giant, messy feast at the table.
From Dungeness and blue crab to shrimp and crawdads, the items of seafood are thrown into the bags with segments of lime, corn, and seasonings of your choice. As the name of the restaurant suggests, the seafood is quickly boiled, thereby preserving tenderness. The bags, in addition to being convenient units of transport, ensure that the juices of the crustaceans do not diffuse into the cooking water.
The typical seasonings are: Rajun-Cajun, Lemon Pepper, and Garlic Butter. However, most people are addicted to the Boiling Crab for one thing only: The Whole Sha-bang, a strangely harmonious combination of all three regular seasonings. Deeply red and viscous with little bits of garlic and celery, the Whole Sha-bang may be the most pungent sauce I've ever eaten. A bag of the Whole Sha-bang may leave your fingers, your clothes, and your car smelling like crawfish and garlic for days, but the draw of spicy, tangy, buttery sauce is unstoppable.
The crawfish are at their juiciest during the spring and summer months, but even in the fall and winter, the critters are plump enough for good shelling. Like miniature lobsters, the bulk of the meat in crawfish is in the tails.
While the boil-in-a-bags are the most popular orders, their fried catfish is tender and flaky with a golden and crisp casing. Cajun fries are well executed, having a crunch on the exterior reminiscent of tater tots. Free refills of their sodas tops off their very reasonably-priced menu.
The waiting time to be seated is almost always interminable. Once I arrived at five in the afternoon and waited outside for an hour; come six in the evening, the waiting time is usually two hours or more. Now, instead of waiting and battling the throngs of families and raucous teenagers that dominate the establishment, I generally order my huge bags of crawdads to go. That way, I can shell and spit in the comfort of my own dining table.
The Boiling Crab
742 W Valley Boulevard, Alhambra CA 91803 (map)
Multiple locations in California and Texas listed at theboilingcrab.com
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10 Comments:
I thought plastic bags were illegal in California? I'm sure the PETA ecosmug types must love this place!
Burger365 at 2:16PM on 10/15/09
@Burger365 They're not. The only ban I know of is in San Francisco supermarkets (someone can correct me on this). The Boiling Crab is safe for now :)
caroliiine at 2:38PM on 10/15/09
I never thought about getting to go. GREAT idea.
I've been to the one in Garden Grove and loved it. There's nothing like The Whole Sha-bang. You're dirty and sticky and smelly when you're done gorging, but it is so worth it. The shrimp is also good and the king crab claws are excellent.
alosha7777 at 3:03PM on 10/15/09
Where do they get their Crawfish from? In Louisiana crawfish season is from Jan/Feb to about May/June.
nelkins at 4:31PM on 10/15/09
I can't eat those things, maybe if they were 10 times as big. I am a lazy eater, I like to be able to just stuff my food in my mouth with a fork, chew and swallow. If there is any prying-apart-of-a-critter involved I usually skip it.
Never got the whole blue crab thing when I lived in Northern Virginia, either.
redfish at 4:32PM on 10/15/09
@caroliine :) hehe Just a little sarcasm. I live in Santa Barbara and there's been talk of the infamous plastic legislation being implemented down here.
@nelkins the crawfish are most likely farm raised
We had a storm here the last couple days and funny enough the crawfish were out in full force, although these cement storm water channel living varietals may not be the best eating.
Burger365 at 5:28PM on 10/15/09
Lucky to have one in my town! The whole Sha-bang is the way to go!
@nelkins: if I remember correctly, they're farmed in Seadrift, Tx. My friend's cousin is the founder and i'm pretty sure he mentioned shipping the seafood from Seadrift.
Christina N. at 5:56PM on 10/15/09
Wait, they boil the seafood in the plastic bag? Yeesh. I have no doubt that it's tasty but I'd have a really hard time not thinking about melted plastic molecules all over my food.
RegrettableFoodie at 10:07PM on 10/15/09
FYI: dissemble means 'to conceal one's motives, feelings, or beliefs.'
g00blar at 5:32AM on 10/16/09
we always take it to go because of our 3 year old but we ALWAYS make a stop across the street from the alhambra location for a loaf of french bread from the bahn mi place to dip the bread in the sauce.... deadly but YUMMY.
chon76 at 11:27AM on 10/16/09