Garlic Butter Crawfish Boil
One of my colleagues called me Yen Crawfish because of how often I talked about crawfish boil. I was first introduced to this dish in May 2015, while visiting D.C., and got hooked to it ever since! If you have never seen one, crawfishes look like mini lobsters, but are so much more flavorful in my taste. Since May 2015, I have tried crawfish boil at every city I visited, and attempted to made my own boils several times. Unfortunately, in Salt Lake City, I was only able to get the frozen kind in Walmart, until 3 weeks ago when I learnt that I can actually catch live crawfishes here in Utah. What's better than making your favorite dish from scratch?!
Me, at Strawberry Reservoir.
Before the trip to Strawberry Reservoir, I got some chicken thighs, fishing line, and a net (the one in the picture). To make the bait, tie one chicken thigh to one end of the line, and a marker (a rock in this case) to the other end. Then throw the chicken thigh as far as you can, into the seaweed, and leave it there for about 5 minutes. We only had 4 chicken thighs, and afterwards, lost 2 because of our horrific marker skills! After leaving the bait in the water for about 5 minutes, walk closer to the bait and slowly pull it horizontally towards you. Once the bait is close enough to the surface that you can see the crawfishes, use the net to whip them up, and remove your bait, then repeat!
Now, the tricky part is that we got that net in the picture, where the holes are too big that we lost our first catch! Luckily, there was another family nearby who was kind enough to let us borrow their net with smaller holes. We got about 2 lbs of crawfishes during an hour and a half, with the 2 remaining baits. We were super happy with our catch, even when sometimes we only got 1 or 2 per bait.
So here are my take-aways after the 1st attempt in catching crawfishes:
1) Get a net with smaller holes to keep your crawfishes inside, and with light handle so it won't disturb the water and scare away the crawfishes.
2) Get chicken drumstick. It is easier to tie the fishing line to.
3) Get visible fishing line, and tie the string to a marked rock otherwise, you will lose your baits like we did!
4) Finally, be patient! The first few catches, we did not wait long enough and only got 1 or 2 crawfishes per bait. Wait 5 minutes or so, your patience will pay off.
We kept them in an ice cooler to keep them fresh.
Though crawfish is flavorful by itself, the secret to any boil is the sauce. My favorite is garlic butter sauce, with an Asian kick to it, of course.
RECIPE: serves 2
raw crawfishes: 2lbs
baby red potatos: 5-6 counts
corn on the cob in halves: 4
minced garlic: 1 cup
unsalted butter: 4 sticks
old bay seasoning: 3 tbs
lemon pepper: 1 tbs
garlic head: 2 counts
black pepper: 1 tsp
paprika: 2 tbs
Zatarain's Crawfish, Crab and Shrimp Boil: 1 package
lemon: 1, in halves
* The Boil: Put crawfishes, potatoes, corn on the cob, boil package, garlic heads, and lemon in a big pot, fill with water, and boil it for 20 minutes on medium heat.
* The Sauce: melt 1 tbs of butter in a sauce pan on medium heat, then add the minced garlic, stir until golden brown, then add the rest of the butter. After the butter fully melt, add the rest of dry seasoning.
* The Mix: drain the water out of the boil, then add the sauce to the boil, put on low heat for about 15 minutes for the crawfishes to soak in the seasoning. Stir every 3 minutes to make sure all part of the boil is equally seasoned.
The crawfish boil is now ready to serve. Warning, it will get messy! Get some paper tower ready and dig in :)
Hope you enjoy the boil and leave me a comment on how the recipe turns out :)