Crayfish, Crawdads, and Mudbugs, oh my…

I will admit, this is an acquired taste. For those of us fortunate enough to enjoy this delicacy, it is the season. For the next couple of months, it is prime crayfish harvest time. I know that modern food marketing has them available all year long, but nothing compares to fresh out of the swamp in the spring.

As far as cooking goes, they are about as simple as boiling water. If you are brave enough to start with live crayfish, make sure that they are rinsed off well and all the debris from being captured is removed. If you were lucky enough to catch your own, you will also want to keep them in some cool clear water overnight to let them purge their systems before you cook them.

Needless to say, live ones are not cooperative about the cooking process, so some caution is advised at this point. If you have never done this before, see if you got a friend who has to help. Cooking isn’t hard, just takes attention and timing. I start with a nice big stock pot about half full of water. On the stove, I bring it to a rolling boil and drop in a bag of crab boil and half a lemon. I know lots of people that like bay seasonings and other options, I just happen to like crab boil. At this point, if you would like to expanding the range of those taste buds, toss in some new potatoes, corn on the cob, sausage, or anything else you think will taste good. Boil until the water is colored and the smell is easily noticeable. If you added veggies, let boil for about ten minutes to synch them up with the crayfish. Basically, at this point, you unceremoniously dump the crayfish into the boiling water. They expire immediately and are done cooking when they turn read and start to float up in the water. Don’t walk off, this does not take long.

Now, turn off the heat and scoop/strain out the crayfish and anything else you tossed in. Throw it all on a big dish or serving platter and set the steaming pile of goodness in the center of the table. Give everyone plenty of paper towels and beverages. If the claws are big enough, the meat there is very tasty. As far as extracting the tail meat, my method is to pull gently at the top while squeezing at the base. The most important part is to enjoy this amazing meal.