Crawfish – A Clawless Lobster

Let us get closer with the crawfish by knowing its family and its value. It is recorded to be a member of super families Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. It is a freshwater crustaceans related to lobsters. As we all know that lobsters are of two types: the clawless and the one with claw. Crawfish is clawless rock lobsters.

Obviously, it is a decapods crustacean which is made up of nineteen body segments. The body is divided into cephalothorax and the abdomen. The average size of crawfish or crayfish is 17.5 centimeters where some grow bigger. They came from South America, North America, Australia and Asia. In different continents there live different family of crayfish; some are Parastacidae, Astacidae and Cambaridae.

Crawfish belongs also to the low mercury fish. It signifies that it is safe to eat this fish; an edible type of fish. If we remember that they are good source of protein and omega 3 fatty acids that help keep us healthy. Its versatility makes it taste well with any spice and with whatever kind of recipe it is. That is why it is good to try some crawfish recipes:

Crawfish Étouffée

Ingredients:

* 6 tbsp butter
* 4 tbsp flour
* 2 cups onions, chopped
* 1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped
* 1/2 cup celery, chopped
* 6 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 tbsp dry sherry
* 4 cups crawfish stock (any seafood stock or a vegetable stock with a seafood "base" can be substituted)
* 2 bay leaves
* 4 sprigs fresh thyme
* 1 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 tsp black pepper
* 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
* 4 dashes of your favorite hot sauce
* 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
* 2 lbs Louisiana crawfish tails
* 1/2 lemon, juiced
* 1 cup green onions, chopped
* 1/4 cup chopped parsley
* steamed white rice

Directions:

1. In a large pot or saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter.
2. Whisk in flour, stirring constantly until medium or golden brown roux is achieved.
3. Add onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic to the roux.
4. Sauté these vegetables for 5-7 minutes or until soft and translucent.
5. Add sherry to vegetables while scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.
6. Add stock, bay leaves, and thyme, salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper, hot sauce, and Worcestershire and stir well.
7. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, stir occasionally.
8. Add crawfish tails, lemon juice, green onions and parsley.
9. Stir, cover and simmer for 5 more minutes.
10. Adjust salt, black pepper and hot sauce to taste.
11. Serve in a soup bowl over steamed white rice.

These are eleven simple steps to cook Crawfish Étouffée and a very fast way to taste the delicious crawfish recipe.

Most of the time, we only see it as our food to eat but some because of their great love for crawfish they adopt it as their pet. That is really amazing. They are kept in fresh water aquariums. Just like any other pets in the water, they are feed regular fish food, algae wafers, and even small fish. It is shy and tries to hide under leaves and rock so it is appropriate to grant a hiding place.

Since their natural habitat is ponds or rivers so they will probably enjoy digging to create a tunnel. They might also try to escape out of the tank by crawling. These are the usual habits they enjoy doing inside the aquarium. Of course, it is aside from eating careless small fishes in the aquarium.

Knowing these facts exactly help us realize that it is one of the treasures we can find in the water. It may be a creeping creature but absolutely keep us survive and enjoy life.

By: Ralph Crow

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Ralph Crow finds it very easy to learn the step by step crawfish recipes and that makes him enjoy his favorite Cajun and Creole crawfish dishes. That outstanding crawfish paddles he is using is part of his successful learning.