Go Back
A two-tier seafood tower on crushed ice with shrimp, lobster tails, crab claws, mussels and oysters on the half shell, lemon wedges and three sauces

Homemade Seafood Tower

A two-tier chilled seafood platter with poached shrimp, lobster tails, snow crab, mussels and oysters on ice, served with cocktail sauce, mignonette and lemon herb sauce.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Chilling 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American, French
Calories: 360
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Seafood
  • 2 pounds large shell-on shrimp 16 to 20 per pound (900 g)
  • 2 lobster tails 6 to 8 ounces each
  • 2 pounds cooked snow crab clusters thawed (900 g)
  • 1 pound live mussels scrubbed and debearded (450 g)
  • 16 fresh oysters scrubbed
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine for the mussels
Poaching liquid
  • 3 quarts water
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 1 lemon halved
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
Cocktail sauce
  • 3/4 cup ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish or to taste
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Mignonette
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 shallot finely minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper
Lemon herb sauce
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice plus 1 teaspoon zest
  • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
To serve
  • 10 to 15 pounds crushed ice
  • 3 lemons cut into wedges

Method
 

Sauces
  1. Stir together each sauce in its own small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until serving, up to 2 days.
Cook the shellfish
  1. Bring the water, salt, lemon, bay leaves and peppercorns to a boil. Turn off the heat, add the shrimp and let sit 3 to 4 minutes until pink and opaque. Transfer to an ice bath, then peel and devein, leaving tails on.
  2. Steam the lobster tails over boiling water about 1 minute per ounce, until the meat is opaque and white throughout. Chill in the ice bath and split lengthwise.
  3. Discard any cracked mussels or open ones that do not close when tapped. Steam with the wine for 4 to 6 minutes until open, discard any that stay closed, then chill.
  4. Refrigerate all cooked seafood for at least 1 hour, until very cold. Thaw the crab in the refrigerator and crack the shells lightly.
Assemble
  1. Shuck the oysters just before serving, keeping them level to save the liquor.
  2. Fill both tiers with crushed ice. Arrange crab, lobster and oysters on the bottom tier and shrimp and mussels on the top. Add lemon wedges and the sauces and serve immediately, keeping the tower on ice for no more than 2 hours.

Notes

Make ahead: Cook and chill shrimp, lobster and mussels up to 1 day ahead.
Safety: Raw oysters are not recommended for pregnant women, young children, older adults or anyone with a weakened immune system. Discard seafood left out more than 2 hours.
Nutrition is an estimate per serving including about 2 tablespoons of sauce.