Lessons learned from my first crawfish boil
It’s crawfish season (or crawdad, as we used to say in Texas when I was growing up), and nothing beats having a group of people over for a big boil. Usually, these gatherings are held outside since the cleaning, boiling and eating of the crustaceans can get messy. But what if you don’t have an outdoor space? Here are 10 things I learned this weekend when I held my first-ever crawfish boil inside my tiny New York City apartment.
1. These guys are feisty and love to pinch. Either wear thick gloves or stock up on bandages.
2. A broadsheet newspaper, such as The New York Times, makes a better table cover than a tabloid newspaper, such as The New York Post. The latter, however, has far wittier headlines.
3. Accordions are optional. If you don’t have any Zydeco bands on your IPod, don’t fret. Anything that gets your feet tapping and your hips shaking will be fine.
4. Finding Zatarain’s or Tex-Joy crawfish boil spice mix on the East Coast is impossible. Old Bay will suffice as long as you supplement it with tons of cayenne. Or better yet, make your own spice mix.
5. If you don’t have a supply of local, live crawfish, order them from Louisiana purveyors such as Cajun Grocer or Louisiana Crawfish. Not only do they taste better but it helps the Louisiana economy.
6. Don’t gaze at their cute little bug eyes for too long or you might start feeling bad about what you’re about to do the creatures: boil them and eat them.
7. If you’re cooking in a small apartment without any outdoor space, be sure and open a window (or two) when purging (a.k.a. cleaning) the crawfish. All that mud and swamp gunk gets stinky.
8. When your live crawfish arrive at the office, resist the pleadings of your colleagues to open the cooler and pull out a couple for races. This can only lead to trouble, especially if they’re fast and like to hide (the crawfish, not your colleagues).
9. If the tail on a cooked crawfish isn’t curved, do not eat it. A straight tale means that the crawfish was dead before it was boiled, and it’s going to be mushy and taste rotten. It’s best to try and pick out most of the dead ones before you do your boil, but be careful as the live ones can get restless as you’re picking through the batch (see tip No. 1).
10. These crustaceans are known by many names—crawdads, crayfish, crawfish, swamp lobsters or mud bugs—but no matter what they’re called, they taste just as delicious. (Though our Louisiana friends may give you the stink-eye if you refer to them as anything but crawfish.)
What are some of your tips for boiling crawfish?
Boiled crawfish
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 6 lemons, cut in half
- 1/2 cup mustard seeds
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1/4 cup whole cloves
- 1/4 cup whole allspice
- 1/4 cup coriander seeds
- 2 tablespoons cayenne
- 10 bay leaves
- 20 pounds of live crawfish
- 1 stalk celery
- 10 red potatoes
- 10 ears of corn cut in half
- 1 pound andouille sausage, cut into one-inch pieces
- 2 medium yellow onions, cut in half
- 12 cloves garlic. peeled (one head)
- 20 pounds live crawfish
Instructions
- In a tall 12-quart pot with a boil basket, add the butter, lemons, mustard seeds, salt, cloves, allspice, coriander, cayenne, bay leaves, potatoes, corn, sausage, onions, and garlic. Fill the pot with water two-thirds up the sides. Turn heat on high. When the water gets warm (but before it’s boiling), taste the water and make any spice adjustments, such as adding more salt or cayenne.
- Meanwhile, as the water is heating, purge the crawfish if they haven’t been purged yet. (Purging is getting rid of all the mud and other swamp gunk). To do this in an apartment, put a stopper in your kitchen sink, unload the crawfish into the sink, and fill it with water. Let them soak for 2 minutes and then drain the sink. The water will be brown and kind of funky, but after you repeat this action 2 more times the water should be more or less clear.
- Once the pot is boiling, throw in the crawfish and boil for 10 minutes, turn off the heat and let sit for 15 minutes. (You can do this in batches, just add more water and spices as necessary. The corn and potatoes can come out of the pot after the first batch is boiled.)
- Place bowl of crawfish on table covered with newspaper or butcher paper, snap, peel, and enjoy.
I haven’t a clue where that butter idea came from; if I put butter into crawfish boil I’d be run out of Louisiana! But that is very impressive to take it on in NYC!!!
Ooohhh…damn! I had a boil for my 30th birthday last year when I was living in Oregon (I’m now in NY along with you). Here’re a few tidbits I came up with:
1) Definitely make your own boil mix. It’s so easy, and I was blown away by how awesome those guys tasted.
2) When you’re cleaning ’em, just get a big ass stick to stir ’em around with inside a pot or something. Then you don’t really even need to deal with the gloves, ’cause you’ll never be close enough for them to pinch you!
3) A lot of recipes I found online suggested that if you have to make multiple pots, the latter ones are better ’cause the stock’s had a chance to strengthen. They advise against topping off the water in the pot for this reason. I say – top off that water! I was just a might nonplussed to take the lid off my 2nd batch 5 minutes in and discover the suckers on top were still alive! Goddamn, I hope never to repeat that experience.
4) If you’re boiling for non-Texans, you really only need 2 lbs of crawfish per person. Non-Texans are wieners that way. For Texans, use 4-5 lbs per person.
5) When you have leftovers to freeze (because non-Texans never eat enough, goddamn them), peel them before you even leave the boil site. It’s a pain at the time, but in the long run it’s so fabulously easy to just pluck the meat out of the freezer and fry it up for a crawfish tail salad or sautee it in a little roux for an etouffee. Peeling them frozen sucks.
That’s all I can think of now. I’ve been toying with the idea of doing one here in NY, but I’ve got too many friends to pull it off in my apt, and I’m not sure the neighbors would take too kindly to me sticking some big-ass propane contraption out on the front sidewalk!
The most important lesson I’ve learned about crawdad boils was posted prominently on the outside of the door on the men’s room in a hole-in-the-wall coon-ass cafe just outside of Houston. It read, “CAUTION, wash you hands BEFORE using the toilet!”
Alexis — For Louisianians, plan on 7-10 pounds per person!
As far as cooking tips — this is totally sexist, but I like it. I ice down the beer, let the boys cook and then eat all the deliciousness.
I second the addition of any and all veggies. And lots of cold beer.
The best thing about living in Louisiana — even though a full boil takes all day, there are plenty of restaurants where you can go in and walk out minutes later with crawfish-to-go. It’s like chinese food, only better (and no delivery, usually).
One more note, Emeril learned his skills as the head chef at Commander’s Palace, an amazing restaurant in New Orleans’ Garden District. I recommend lunch — all the flavor for a lot less price and 25 cent martinis.
I am a Texpat as well! Working in Manhattan, living in Jersey. Just bought a house so I cant wait to have a boil now that I have a back yard. Not sure if you knew about this one but it seem that NJ has a Crawfish festival with shuttle service from Manhattan! Crawfish Fest, it’s on May 30th and June 1st this year.
I do use the salt in the water to purge the boys before they boil. A recent addition to the boil has been to slice up some sausage in large chuncks and throw that in too. Fantastic.