Low Country Seafood Perloo

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 6 to 8 servings
  • Total: 55 min
  • Active: 35 min
Also known as pilau or purloo, this traditional one-pot rice dish is beloved in the Low Country. This recipe uses some of my favorite local ingredients: Carolina Gold rice and of course, our bountiful seafood. Feel free to substitute mussels for the clams or use other seafood instead of what I've called for here if you'd like.
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Ingredients

2 1/2 cups seafood stock

1 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon saffron threads

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

One 12-ounce package andouille sausage, sliced

1 white onion, chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cups Carolina Gold rice, rinsed

One 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 pound clams (see Cook’s Note)

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails left on

1/2 pound lump blue crabmeat

Lemon wedges and chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions

Special equipment:
braiser or large cast-iron skillet
  1. Combine the seafood stock and wine in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Add the saffron, then remove the pan from the heat. Let stand while prepping the perloo.
  2. Heat the oil in a braiser or large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until browned. Remove the sausage from the skillet with a slotted spoon, reserving the drippings in the skillet. Add the onion and sprinkle lightly with salt. Cook until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and sauté until the grains are thoroughly coated. Add the tomatoes and cook until the liquid evaporates and the tomatoes begin to soften.
  3. Carefully pour in the stock mixture, then season with salt and pepper. Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the liquid is almost absorbed. Uncover the skillet and add the clams, shrimp and crab. Cook until the shrimp are pink and the clams have opened, 8 minutes longer. (Remove and discard any unopened clams.) To serve, divide the perloo evenly among serving bowls and serve with lemon wedges and parsley.

Cook’s Note

To easily remove any sand from the clams, soak them in water that has a little flour dissolved in it. The clams don't like flour, so they'll spit it out along with any sand trapped inside the shells.

Let's Get Cooking!

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Craig Welty

Very good. Ended up putting the Andouille back into the dish.

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