Nathan News

By Layla Khoury-Hanold for Food Network Kitchen

Layla Khoury-Hanold is a contributor to Food Network.

If you’ve ever been asked to boil red swamp crayfish for the first time, you know how daunting it can be to be faced with dismantling a bunch of tiny crustaceans. It’s worth learning how to eat crawfish, a delicacy especially enjoyed in Louisiana. For complete crawfish expertise, we tapped Alex Brennan-Martin, son of Ella Brennan, owner of New Orleans’ famed Commander’s Palace restaurant. Brennan-Martin also owns and operates Brennan’s of Houston, where peak crawfish season offerings include crawfish enchiladas, crawfish cakes and crawfish empanadas, as well as an annual crawfish boil party. crayfish in the yard.

Crayfish are small freshwater crustaceans that look like small lobsters. They are also known as crayfish, craydids, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mudbugs, baybugs, or yabbies, depending on the region. Crawfish are found all over the world, but the majority are harvested in Louisiana. Crayfish are usually boiled (or steamed); A crawfish boil is a traditional preparation in which crawfish are boiled in a huge pot of seasoned water alongside new potatoes and corn on the cob (sometimes andouille sausage is also added; Brennan prefers to add additional vegetables such as carrots, artichokes, Brussels sprouts or mushrooms).

Crawfish can also be added to okra or used to make crawfish bisque. Sautéed crayfish are added to Louisiana specialties such as crawfish etouffee, a rich and savory sauce served over rice, or crawfish bread, where French bread is stuffed with crawfish, cheese and spices. and cooked until tender. Other examples of crawfish preparations include crawfish vinaigrette and crawfish fried rice.

Crawfish are known to have a sweet flavor profile. “I think they’re sweeter than lobster, a bit like blue crab with a sweetness that comes through even after boiling,” Brennan says. “But nothing tastes like crayfish.”

According to Brennan, you should eat all parts of the crayfish except the shells. “All the meat is in the tail but the fat in the head is delicious. I hate when I see people throwing them away,” Brennan says. “I like to pull the meat off the tail with my teeth and squeeze the bottom of the tail, then suck on the head and eat it all together.”

Yes, you should suck crayfish heads. As Brennan notes, the head contains all the fat, often referred to as crawfish butter. Additionally, the heads absorb the spicy, seasoned broth while cooking during a crawfish boil, so the heads also contain flavorful juices.

Hold the head in one hand and pinch the body just below the head in the other hand, then gently twist and pull in one motion to separate the two.

As you would with shrimp, start at the top (head side) and use your thumb to peel the shell away from the flesh until you can grasp the flesh.

While grabbing the meat, pinch the end of the tail with your other hand, and gently wiggle and pull to remove the edible piece of meat from the shell. For an advanced move, do like Brennan and squeeze the bottom of the tail and use your teeth to pull the meat out of the tail (though he admits this method took him years of practice and thousands of pounds of crawfish to master).

Slowly suck in crawfish butter and spiced juices; lightly pinch the head so that all the juice does not gush out too quickly. Brennan likes to eat the tail meat and suck on the head to experience all the flavors and textures of the crawfish together.

51 Seafood Recipes That Scream “Summer”

Healthy fish and seafood recipes

28 Satisfying Shrimp Recipes to Keep in Your Back Pocket