Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Crawfish....technique to extract flavour and use in multiple dishes....



Everybody told us that we have to try crawfish. So, we went to a place that sells live and cooked crawfish....We bought "live" crawfish, and they thought we were crazy since nobody buys live ones....and here we go....we did it and enjoyed it....The cost per kilo was $6 dollars or 5 euros. We bought 2 kilos.


I will explain the technique I used, and in another post (posts!), I will write the dishes I prepared. The dishes were bisque, crepes filled with crawfish bechamel, and still I have more broth in the fridge!!


Crawfish broth

2 kilos of live crawfish

70 grams of butter

40 grams of olive oil

7 garlic cloves

3 shallots

1/2 cup of white wine or any liquor you have open (rum, cognac, cava)

1/2 liter of water


Wash and clean the crawfish. Be careful with your hands. 

In a big pot, place the butter and olive oil. Heat them, and add the garlic and shallots. Let it cook for 3 minutes. 


Add the cleaned crawfish along with the wine. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add the water, and let it simmer for 15 minutes at medium/low heat. Check that all crawfish are red. Turn off the heat, and let it rest for 1 hour.

Peel the crawfish. Make sure to collect all the liquid that comes from them. 

Separate the tails, and place them in the fridge. Place the shells on an oven tray. Bake them for 6 minutes at high temperature. Let them cool.


 Now comes the instinct part since I didn't measure the water. Place a portion of the shells in a blender, and add some water. Blend it until creamy soup. Add either shells or water. Strain it very well with the help of a spoon, and collect the broth. Once you have pass all the shells, place them one more time in the blender with water, and collect the broth by straining it very well. Discard the shells.

You will end up with a thick broth that will be the base for your bisque, crepes with crayfish béchamel sauce, paella or seafood rice, and raviolis or pasta......the imagination is endless!!....

After all the strains......





2 comments:

  1. Live craw fish is for sure fresher! The broth must be very flavourful and perfect for soup or pasta sauce :-))

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  2. Algo parecido es lo que hago para la sopa de navidad las cabezas y colas de gambas y un par de cangrejos o nécoras todo bien triturado y colado con un paño,vamos que tu caldo es un lujo👍besinos wapa

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