Low Country Boil Recipe: 5 Tips for Making a Low Country Boil

The Low Country Boil, also known as Frogmore Stew, is a one-pot meal consisting of shellfish, corn, potatoes, sausage, onions, butter, and sometimes crab. The dish is common at gatherings, BBQs, and celebrations in the Low Country region of the United States, which runs from the Carolinas' coastal plains to the Georgia border.

Many people enjoy other traditional Low Country foods, which commonly consist of rice, grits, and produce served with local crab, shrimp, fish, and oysters. For example, shrimp served over creamy grits and coated in gravy is a popular Low Country dish. Another traditional Low Country dish is the Huguenot torte, a cake-like treat with apples and nuts frequently served with a side of neat bourbon.

You can trace the origins of the Low Country Boil back to the traditions of the Gullah Geechee people, descendants of Central and West Africans. The global slave trade brought some of the nations’ people to the US from Africa and forced them to work on rice paddies and cotton fields along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts. With spare resources, they recreated their traditional one-pot meals with any available vegetables and proteins they could find.

Richard Gay, a National Guardsman, reportedly invented the modern version of the seafood boil in the 1960s. Gay had the difficult task of cooking lunch for more than 100 men and chose to use an old family recipe. He named the dish “Frogmore stew” after the place where he grew up, as the soldiers often teased him about the name of his hometown. When the postal service dropped the name “Frogmore,” the meal became “Low Country Boil.”

Home cooks can use easily available foods to prepare a Low Country Boil for a big gathering. Here are some tips to consider when cooking your own:

1. 1. Selecting the shrimp: Aim to use the largest shrimp you can find to avoid overcooking. You can cook your shrimp with or without their shells, though peeled options are much easier to eat. If you're using frozen seafood, make sure to thaw it first.
2. 2. Cleaning the shrimp: Shrimp have a dark blue or black digestive tract that runs like a vein along their back ridges. “Deveining” is the process of removing this tract, and it can be time-consuming. Depending on the size of your shrimp and how you decide to cook them, deveining can eliminate any leftover grit in the final dish. Many grocery stores sell deveined shrimp, but you can perform the task yourself by using a paring knife or pair of kitchen shears to cut away the shell and open up the ridge to remove any waste.
3. 3. Selecting corn: Corn is one of the star ingredients of a good seafood boil. While fresh corn on the cob is the best option flavor-wise, you can use frozen corn on the cob if it’s all you have on hand.
4. 4. Adding different types of seafood: A Low Country Boil is a great vessel for many types of seafood, including mussels, clams, crab legs, and crawfish.
5. 5. Serving the meal: Many people serve the Low Country Boil atop newspapers, making cleanup a breeze. Simply line a table with a few layers of newspapers and place the contents of the boil atop it. Be sure to drain the boil beforehand and consider keeping the sauces and condiments in small containers and spreading them throughout the table for easier access.