How to Eat Crawfish in 4 Steps

A crawfish is actually a crayfish, a saltwater crustacean that closely resembles a small lobster. These crustaceans also go by the names crawdads, mudbugs, or yabbies. The word “crayfish” derives from the French word “ecrevisse,” meaning lobster or crawfish. The Southeastern region of the United States has the most diverse population of crawfish, but you can also find them in the Pacific Northwest.

Buying crawfish is easier in places like New Orleans, Mississippi, and even Houston during crawfish season. For Northerners, it’s a little more difficult. No matter where you are, there are a few things to look for when buying crawfish. Listed below are a few tips:

• Avoid the value grade. Machines grade crawfish on a scale ranging from value grade (the lowest grade) to premium (the highest grade). Value crawfish are more likely to be muddy and uneven in size, which is an issue when it comes to cooking.
• Come prepared. When purchasing crawfish, bring a cooler with ice and a spray bottle so the crawfish stay alive in transit. Crawfish are living beings, so they need to breathe. Leave the lid of the cooler cracked so the crawfish get some air, but not so open that they escape. Only cook live crawfish and dispose of any dead ones.
  
• Go online. If you don’t live in an area where crawfish fishing takes place or can’t find it in the grocery store, ordering live crawfish online is a possibility. Make sure the crawfish come from a reliable place, like Louisiana or Texas, and order more than you think you need in the event of a few dead crawfish upon arrival. The general rule of thumb is three to five pounds of crawfish per person.
• The cleaner, the better. Look for crawfish with clean shells, bright eyes, and smooth movement. Avoid crawfish with dirty or muddy shells because that extra material adds to the weight of the product and you’ll end up getting less actual crawfish per pound.

The taste of crawfish varies depending on the part of the crawfish. Broken down below are the various parts of a crawfish and what they taste like:

1. 1. Claws: Crawfish claw meat is mildly sweet and not overpowering. Crawfish claws are similar to lobster claws in taste and texture. It isn’t chewy and the meat is very smooth. Steam or boil crawfish claws just like you would lobster claws.
2. 2. Head: Eating a crawfish head is not for everyone, but as Louisianans know, it’s where you’ll find all the flavor. While everything in the head is edible, there’s no meat there, so what you’re eating is any juices that accumulated from the cooking process. The taste is sweet from the natural juices of the crawfish, and spicy from Cajun seasoning.
3. 3. Legs: The legs of a crawfish don’t contain a lot of meat and cooks usually toss them in with a seafood stock or crawfish boil to extract the flavor from the shell and the little meat that does exist. The legs taste mostly like the seasoning that you cook them in, usually Cajun seasoning, since there isn’t enough meat to taste it separately from anything else.
4. 4. Roe: Crawfish roe are the eggs, similar to caviar in appearance and taste; however, crawfish roe have a more mild flavor than most caviars. The flavor is fresh, briney, and delicate. When the roe is bright red, it’s fully cooked and ready to eat.
5. 5. Shell: Use the outer shell of crawfish to make stock for soups and other seafood boils. Cook crawfish shells in water with other flavorings like onion, celery, or bell peppers all day for a rich stock ready to flavor the various other crawfish dishes.
6. 6. Tail: The tail meat of a crawfish has a slightly sweet taste but is mostly just a mild, general shellfish flavor. Crawfish tail meat is a bit tough and chewy, but it is the most common part of the crawfish to eat because it’s where you find all the meat. Because of its texture, crawfish tails hold up to a variety of cooking methods like grilling, broiling, or baking.
7. 7. Tomalley: Tomalley is a delicacy. It’s the crawfish’s digestive gland, similar to that in other crustaceans like crabs and lobsters. The yellow stuff has a stronger taste of concentrated crawfish. Keep it in the crawfish for a seafood boil, or take it out and mix it into sauces or soups.

Eating crawfish is just as much about the experience as it is the flavor. Every part of the crawfish is edible in some way. Follow this step-by-step guide for eating crawfish and getting the most crawfish meat out of the shell:

1. 1. Remove the head from the rest of the crawfish. Hold the crawfish on either side of the widest part of the tail. In a twisting motion, twist the tail’s shell and the head in opposite directions, separating the tail from the head.
2. 2. Deal with the head. Suck the juices and yellow stuff out of the crawfish head before discarding. If you don’t want to eat the head or suck the juices out of it, set it aside or throw it away.
3. 3. Take off the legs. After dealing with the head and before getting to the tail meat, separate the legs from the body of the crawfish. There isn’t much meat in the legs, so either discard them or do a similar process as the head and suck what little meat and juices out of the legs that are there.
4. 4. Get out the tail meat. Next, remove the tail shell with your hands much in the same way you would peel shrimp. Hold the end of the tail and squeeze slightly to push the meat out of the tail, or use your fingers to peel the shell away from the morsel of tail meat.

The crawfish is the official state crustacean of Louisiana. Eating crawfish in Louisiana is a way of life and many dishes utilize crawfish. Here are a few dishes using crawfish:

• Cajun crawfish: Cajun crawfish is another way of saying crawfish boil. Boiling crawfish keeps the flavor and texture of the meat intact while also cooking other elements of the boil, like corn and potatoes. A cajun style crawfish boil is the most common way to eat crawfish and uses Cajun seasoning as the main flavoring.
• Crawfish butter: Crawfish butter is a type of compound butter, meaning it’s softened butter mixed with additional flavorings, in this case crawfish tail meat, garlic, Cajun seasoning, and sometimes the tomalley. It’s then rolled into a log in parchment paper, sliced, and used in a variety of ways. Crawfish butter also refers to the yellow stuff found in the head of the crawfish.
• Crawfish étouffée: The word “étouffée” means to smother, so crawfish ètouffee is a dish of cooked crawfish, rice, and often vegetables of some kind smothered in a rich and spicy sauce. Serve this crawfish dish as a composed dish or as more of a stew.
• Gumbo: Gumbo is a thick stew consisting of a heavily flavored stock, meat (like andouille sausage), and shellfish (like shrimp) all cooked in a large pot. Use crawfish as the shellfish instead of shrimp, for example, and add them whole so the crawfish cook in the stew base and impart their flavor throughout the whole dish. The overall flavor of gumbo is also Cajun style, as that is the general type of cuisine in Louisiana.
• Viet-Cajun crawfish: Viet-cajun crawfish is a fusion food popping up in Houston, Texas. It takes traditional Vietnamese flavors and combines them with traditional cajun flavors. Each Viet-Cajun dish differs depending on the restaurant or chef, but the overall theme is bold flavors that aren’t overpowering. Dishes like Cajun style crawfish fried rice, crawfish pho, and a Viet-Cajun crawfish boil are popular.

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