Purchase
Market prices vary with the seasons. Crawfish are typically
sold by a sack ranging from 30 to 35 pounds – roughly 500
crawfish. For each person, you’ll need 4 to 5 pounds of craw-
fish. Purchase crayfish from a seafood dealer you know and
respect, or one with a reputable business.
The theory is the closer you purchase seafood to the coast
the better. For crawfish, the closer you purchase to Louisiana,
the fresher. Make sure they aren’t filthy, fishy smelling, full
of grime and gunk, or dead. You also want to make sure your
sack of crawfish are all around the same size so they will cook
evenly.
Purge and Prepare
To clean out the system of the crawfish before you cook
and eat them, you must purge them. To purge them, you put
your live crawfish in a small plastic kiddie pool or a cooler
with freshwater and cover with salt. The water will become
dark and murky. Remove the water and add freshwater. In an
8 hour period, remove old water and add fresh water multiple
times until the water is clear, removing the dead ones that
float to the top. If you purchase them already cleaned and
purged, you should still give them a quick rise in water for
around 10 to 15 minutes.
While you purge your crawdads, you can begin preparing
for your boil.
Fill an 80-quart crawfish boiling pot with a basket 1/3 to 1/2
with water. Place pot on a jet-style propane burner on high
heat. Add onions, garlic, and lemon halves. You can leave the
onions in the mesh bag they come in from the grocery with
tags removed.
Bring to full rolling boil. Add potatoes. You can leave them
in their mesh bag with tags removed. Reduce heat to medium-
low. Boil 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender. Remove
potatoes.
Return water to full rolling boil on high heat. Add crawfish
and celery, if using it. Return water to full rolling boil on high
heat. Start checking doneness just before water returns to full
rolling boil. As soon as small gaps start to appear between the
head and the tail on the largest crawfish, they are done.
Turn off heat. Add frozen corn and cooked potatoes. Let
stand 15 minutes. Remove corn and potatoes. Let crawfish
stand for a minimum of 30 minutes, but 45 minutes is better.
No need for plates, serve on tables lined with plastic table
clothes, covered in newspaper. Place rolls of paper towels on
the tables for easy access and trash cans nearby for used craw-
fish shells.
The newspaper will help absorb the extra juices and make
for an easy clean-up. Store your cooked mudbugs in a large
cooler to keep them warmer longer.
Time to eat
Eating mudbugs is messy. Dress in dark clothing. Remove
your rings, watches and jewelry before you dig in. Your hands
26
T H E T E X A S F O O D IE
This time-honored tradition runs
from January through July for
crawfish caught in the wild. Known
by many different names, including
crayfish, mudbug and crawdad,
these red crustaceans become a
culinary star at this time of year,
especially during Mardi Gras.
are going to be covered in crawfish and juices, which will run
down your arms. Keep water or tea to drink handy. When eat-
ing, look for the crawfish with the longest curled tail. Straight
tails mean they were dead before they were cooked – they will
taste rotten. Break the crawfish between it’s natural middle
and the top of the tail. Start at the top of the tail and peel the
shell off. Once the meat is exposed, try to pinch and pull it
out. If not, continue to remove the shell until you can. Check
for a small, black-hued line/tube that runs the length of the
crawfish’s tail. Remove it before eating. Add to the merriment
with a little Zydeco music, a blend of blues, jazz and rhythm
that feature accordions. Clean your hands with lemon to re-
move the fishy smell from your hands when you’re done.