Crawfish Boil Recipe and How to Eat Crawfish Guide
Learn how to cook up the perfect feast with this crawfish boil recipe.
Crawfish aren’t just a cherished delicacy in Louisiana, they’re a way of life. From mid-January to early June you’ll find this small, fresh-water crustacean at the center of every festival, event and weekend gathering. In fact, there’s a number of ways to enjoy crawfish while in Louisiana.
Robert Shaver of Shaver's Catering in Shreveport is one of thousands of Louisiana natives, who has been boiling and eating crawfish for most of their lives. And, since 1994, he has been the head-boiler-in-charge for the area's much-anticipated Memorial Day weekend event — Mudbug Madness. Interested in learning what it takes for a perfect crawfish boil? Try Shaver’s recipe for yourself and you’ll be a boiling pro in no time.
Ingredients for a Crawfish Boil:
- 30-pound sack of crawfish
- 3 pounds of crawfish or crab boil seasoning
- 1 pound margarine
- 4 lemons, halved
- 1 1/2 pounds button mushrooms
- 1 1/2 pounds yellow onions, quartered
- 3 pounds smoked sausage cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- Corn (up to 50 ears)
- Potatoes (up to 25 pounds)
- 2 pounds of crab or crawfish boil seasoning for potatoes
Method of Preparation:
Bring water to boil in an 80-quart pot with basket. Put in seasonings, margarine, lemons, mushrooms, onions and sausage. Bring to a boil. Add in crawfish and bring back to a full, hard boil. Let boil for 6 minutes. Turn stove off and let soak for 10 minutes. Remove ingredients, place in an ice chest and let them steam for another 10 minutes.
Bring water back to a boil and add up to 50 ears of corn (but don't add any additional seasoning). Cook until center of the corn cob is hot. Remove and place in an ice chest to steam. Then, add 2 additional pounds of seasoning to the water and up to 25 pounds of potatoes (adjust seasonings if using fewer potatoes). Boil until potatoes have a soft center. Remove from water and place in an ice chest to steam for 10 more minutes.
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