How to Boil Crawfish

Bubba's Crawfish Stote

First you need to figure out how many crawfish to boil. An average adult can eat three to five pounds. In making this statement, take into consideration that an average adult in Louisiana will eat this amount while also eating hot dogs, potatoes, smoke sausage, corn on the cob and everything else that was in the pot. If you're not from Louisiana and are not experienced with crawfish, you may want a smaller amount.

The first step is to purge or clean them. I use a box of salt in a wash tub with about 30-40 pounds of crawfish (1 sack) filled with water. Leave them in this saltwater solution 5 minutes them rinse thoroughly with fresh water.

This recipe is for 1 sack (approximately 30-40 lbs.). For 15-20 lbs you would half the recipe and so forth. How much of each you use depends on your taste, and how big your pot is. The onions, garlic, potatoes, corn, hot dogs and sausage are optional or you can select a combination from the group, but you will be missing a treat by leaving them out.

1 Sack of Live Crawfish (30-40 lbs.), 8 Small Onions (peeled), 12 Small New Potatoes, 8 Ears of Corn (cleaned and broke in half), 12 Fresh Mushrooms (small to medium sized whole ones), 1 Clove Garlic (diced), 6 Lemons (cut in half), 2 (3 oz Bags Zatarain’s Shrimp and Crab Boil Seasoning), 14 oz Package Zatarain’s Pro Boil Seasoning , 2 (4 oz Bottle Zatarain’s Liquid Shrimp and Crab Boil), 1 Box. Iodine Salt, 2 oz Ground Cayenne Pepper, 8 oz Louisiana Hot Sauce, 1 Package Hot Dogs, 2 lbs. Cajun Smoke Sausage

Ok, now fire up the burner and get the water boiling. I use an 80 quart pot with a basket, half filled with water. Add Louisiana Brand or Zatarain’s liquid, dry and bag seasons, Louisiana hot sauce, cayenne pepper, salt, lemons and garlic to water. How spicy you want the seafood to be can be varied with soaking time (how long you let it soak after it's cooked). Drop in the whole potatoes and bring to a hard boil and then cook for 5 minutes. Remove basket and add. crawfish, whole onions, hot dogs and smoke sausage. Return basket to pot and return to boil. Pay attention to when it actually starts boiling again and then cook for 10 minutes. Turn off burner, add corn cobs and mushrooms. Cover the pot and allow to soak for 25 minutes. Feel free to "taste test" one during the soak period. This is a privilege of the chef. While everything is soaking, clear the table and cover it heavily with newspaper to absorb any excess water. (With wooden tables, a plastic liner under the newspaper is recommended.) After soaking, lift basket to drain water (I use a large wooding paddle positioned across the middle of the pot and set basket on edge of pot and wooden paddle). After draining spread continence of basket along the middle on table to allow people access to the feast.

To peel a crawfish, remove the tail from the head with a twist, then crack the shell by pinching the sides. The first 2 sections should remove easily, and with a hard pinch on the tip of the tail the meat should come free easily. The yellow stuff that comes out of the head with the tail section is fat and soaks up a lot of spices. Most Cajuns will fight you for that fat as it is delicious.