GRETNA, La. - This may peak your crawfish curiosity, or it may have you screaming sacrilege. Some local Vietnamese Americans are offering up what's being dubbed Viet-Cajun Crawfish. It's wildly popular in Houston and in other parts of the U.S., but will New Orleanians embrace it?
When it comes to crawfish, people in and around New Orleans love eating them and excel at cooking them.
"We just did 157 pounds Sunday and we're doing another 35 pounds today," said customer Stephen Leonard. "We enjoy it especially with all the sides."
With seasonings and secrets that have been passed down for generations, people take pride in their boils.
"It's the crawfish capitol of the world!" exclaimed Rachel Flores from Houston. "You come to New Orleans and you'll know you get good crawfish."
"We put in cans of artichokes, boiled peanuts, pineapple, whatever your flavor is," said Leonard.
While different goodies are added, traditionally crawfish are prepared the same. However, Big EZ Seafood in Gretna is breaking tradition and serving this southern treat with a Vietnamese-style spin.
"Everybody has their own preference, but we want to put it on the table and see where it goes from there," said co-owner Thien Nguyen. "I've always had that passion to love crawfish and try other people's crawfish. It's a pride of ours."
Nguyen and cousin, Nhu Nguyen, opened Big EZ Seafood three years ago in Gretna. Located at 1632 Lafayette Street, there's a huge customer base who enjoy their seafood. However, when they first started making their Vietnamese-style crawfish, people weren't so sure.
"We started three years ago. We took a little heat from it and it turned heads," said Thien. "It's not a science, it's just simple, bold, fresh seafood that we feel like we want to put on the table and have people try for themselves."
"So there are three different kinds," said Nhu. "The regular Louisiana boil, we have our Cali Style which is tossed with Cajun seasoning, butter, garlic and our newest is Cajun Citrus with a more orange, lime and lemon zest."
The crawfish are first boiled in spices and then given extra flavor with a saucy kick.
"Louisiana likes to soak their crawfish to make sure the flavor is inside it," said Thien. "Then we toss our own signature sauce and toss it right on top. That's the way we serve crawfish to our family at home and it's how we want to serve crawfish to {customers}."
Not everybody gets it, but customers say it's worth trying.
"It was great," said Flores. "I love garlic I could eat a whole thing of garlic, it was good stuff."
Flores, visiting from Houston, said this style crawfish is what she's used to back home.
"We went to a few places out here and they only served it one way, the traditional boil," she said. "Well back home, this is the norm, with the garlic."
"So we got the Cali Style and the Basic Garlic and we mixed it so we had the best of both worlds," said Mimi Tran. "It's always good to expand your horizons. The crawfish here are just different, it's a good experience."
As people go back for more, both Thien and Nhu hope others will do the same. Because even though it's not your typical crawfish boil, they are cooked in a similar way: with spice, flavor and a whole lot of heart.
"It wows people," said Thien. "We always want to give people the option and offer something no one else had."
Thien and Nhu also own Mr. Crabhouse Seafood in Harvey with the same menu. For more information on Big EZ Seafood you can call 504-272-0711 or Mr. Crabhouse Seafood at 504-324-6992.