‘Tis the season for these delectable little creatures! Boiled with plenty of Cajun spice they are one of my favorite things! If you don’t know what they are, and, no, they are not lobster, they are Crawfish. These freshwater shellfish are considered a delicacy throughout Louisiana.
Now is the time for Crawfish Etoufee, Crawfish Jambalaya, Crawfish boils and gumbo….the list goes on and on. Our favorite way to enjoy them is boiled, spicy enough to leave a burn on your lips, with plenty of ice cold beer. In a boil, like the picture above, you’ll find corn and small new potatoes. I prefer to have just the crawfish and forego the carbs! They may look like lobster but the sweet piece of meat you’ll find in the tail has a flavor all its own.
Columbia Street Seafood in Covington, LA is becoming one of our favorite places. They boil up some of the best crawfish I have ever eaten in the entire state. It’s not a large place but it is packed with a steady clientele enjoying trays piled with fresh boiled crawfish, crab and even lobster. It is nothing out of the ordinary to see a line out the door and three deep at the counter. We prefer to bring our order home, spread the table outdoors with newspaper and pour them out with plenty of sturdy paper towels.
In 1983 the governor of Louisiana named these little bits of deliciousness the state Crustacean. People are serious about their crawfish in this state and I’m one of them. If you’re interested in what goes in to a crawfish boil scroll down for a recipe. If you are interested in ordering a few pounds on line go here: http://www.lacrawfish.com/
Zatarain’s Crawfish Boil
Ingredients
- 3 pounds yellow onions
- 6 heads garlic
- 6 lemons, halved
- 1 package (53 ounces) ZATARAIN’S® Pro Boil
- 4 pounds small red potatoes
- 1 sack (35 to 40 pounds) live crawfish, cleaned
- 1 bunch celery, cut in bite-size pieces
- 1/4 cup ZATARAIN’S® Concentrated Shrimp and Crab Boil
- 2 ounces ZATARAIN’S® Cayenne Pepper, optional
- 12 frozen half ears corn on the cob
Directions
- Fill an 80-quart crawfish boiling pot with a basket 1/3 to 1/2 with water. Place pot on a jet-style propane burner on high heat. Add onions, garlic and lemon halves. (You can use a small laundry bag for lemons and garlic. Or just leave the onions in the mesh bag they come in from the grocery with tags removed.)
- Bring to full rolling boil. Stir in Pro Boil. Add potatoes (in their mesh bag from the grocery or a laundry bag). Reduce heat to medium-low. Boil 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender. Remove potatoes.
- Return water to full rolling boil on high heat. Add crawfish, celery, liquid Crab Boil and cayenne pepper, if desired. Return water to full rolling boil on high heat. Start checking doneness just before water returns to full rolling boil. As soon as small gaps start to appear between the head and the tail on the largest crawfish, they are done. Turn off heat. Add frozen corn and cooked potatoes. Let stand 15 minutes. Remove corn and potatoes. Let crawfish stand for a minimum of 30 minutes, but 45 minutes is better.
Let The Good Times Roll Wherever You May Be!
2 Responses
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Art Says:
Can you talk about how to get the meat out of the shell. You buy yours in the shell to take home? I know how shrimp are removed from shell but these critters look armored.
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Hannah Gonzalez Says:
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