Crawfish, crayfish, crawdads, mudbugs.. whatever your region calls the little fuckers... this was the most unique cooking experience I've had so far. For one, I had never had crawfish, ever. Especially after dissecting one in a biology lab-- I said, "people SUCK the heads out of these things?" with bewildered amazement. But, always in the spirit of trying new things (and being quite hungry for some spicy seafood as well) I decided to give it a go. It was in my friend Jared's backyard; his good friend from Louisiana had all the equipment; the big outdoor pot, the propane tank, and a gigantic wooden spoon. Jared and I went to Fiesta up in on 35N to buy their last bag of the crawfishdaddybugs, a 42 pound sack, to be exact. It's the tail end of crawfish season, so we were in luck. A few pounds of red potatoes, a couple ears of corn, lots of lemons, garlic, and a big bag of Louisiana brand crawfish and crab boil seasoning. (The seasoning weighed over a pound itself).
First, what we do is cut open the bag of crawfish. We didn't have a watercooler or tank, and even though I suggested a cheap kiddie pool to do the trick, Jared had already sliced open the bag... in his bathtub. Crazy huh? I bet its going to smell like crawfish in there for WEEKS.
The first thing you do is "purge" the crawfish. Or, to be more accurate, you let the crawfish purge themselves. Since they're mud-dwellers, and eat things in mud, their digestive tracks are dirty and muddy. We fill the tub with enough water to submerge the little bugs, then we poured a very large amount of Kosher salt over them. Stir, wait a few minutes, then rinse. The water turns dark brown as these little salt-averted creatures puke up their guts. SO appetizing to think about! We rinse them clean, and then go prepare the other foods.
We read a great deal online about crawfish boils, and decided on adding powdered seasoning, lemon halves (squeezed and the rind thrown in), corn on the cob, red potatoes, 10-12 cloves of garlic, and, you know, the crawfish.
add spice, take a whiff
First, we bring the water to a boil. Then, add the seasoning, and wait until the boil is rolling and fast. Then we add in the vegetables in the colander, letting them cook for 5 minutes or so, and then adding the crawfish. (We only used about 20 pounds in the first batch... around half of them). Once the crawfish are in, you return the pot to a rapid boil. Once its bubblin', we turn off the propane and cover those suckers. Letting them steep for 20-30 minutes (We were impatient and went for 15), lets the little bugs soak up all those cajun spices. After that, lift the colander out and pour that delicious feast over a bunch of newspapers. This is definitely an OUTSIDE activity. So messy, and gross. Ten hungry boys, and only I had the female mind to think to bring a roll of towels. And hot oven mitts.
And BOYYY, howdy, was it DELICIOUS! I wish this were something you could cook in smaller batches. (I'm sure you could, in a tall pasta pot on the stove, but since every crawfish only yields a bite or two of good meat, you wouldn't make enough for more than one person.)
So, there it is! My first ever crawfish boil. Now to go bug Jared for some leftovers...
