Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab Boil Or, as we always called it, just "Zatarain's" (pronounced ZAT-uh-rans), after the most popular local brand of crab boil. It's a packet of spices that you just throw into the water in which you boil your seafood, and makes it spicy-yummy-wonderful. Just make sure you don't get it near your face and inhale, or you'll be sneezing uncontrollably for several minutes! It's now widely available in the United States, but not elsewhere in the world. If you live in an area where it's not available, make your own, and have Louisiana-style boiled shrimp, crabs or crawfish anytime. Works well with any kind of shellfish (I'd love to try boiling langoustines in this elixir sometime!). Ingredients:
Combine all dry ingredients thoroughly. Place in a square of muslin or cheesecloth and tie securely with string, like a large sachet d'=E9pices. Add salt and cayenne or hot sauce to taste. When water for seafood is boiling, add the bag and boil for several minutes, until the boiling liquid is tinted and seasoned, then add shellfish and cook until done, depending on what you're using. Yield: Enough crab
boil seasoning for 5 pounds of seafood. Here's a crawfish boiling method!!!! Crawfish boils are common in this part of the country and generally are held for groups of 8 to 20 people. Plan on 4 to 5 lbs of crawfish per person. For a typical crawfish boil using a 40 lb sack of crawfish, a recipe might be: (The name brand Zatarain's is strongly recommended for the seafood boil) Let the live crawfish purge themselves in cool salty water. Rinse and drain thoroughly before cooking. It's best to purge them in a large container at least two times before boiling. In a 12 gal(or larger) pot, which has a wire basket insert, put 6 gal( or half filled with) water and bring to a boil and add the following: (A 12 gal pot will hold about 25 - 30 lbs of crawfish) For seasonings:
For consumption:
Boil the above for 15 minutes (Keep water at a very slow boil, turning up heat to high only several minutes before adding crawfish so as to have a good rolling boil when crawfish are added.) Drain the live,purged crawfish thoroughly. Add crawfish and bring to a boil as rapidly as possible Boil for 5 to 8 minutes then turn fire as low as possible. If it takes longer than 10 minutes for the water to begin to boil after adding crawfish, then do not let the total time of crawfish in the water exceed 40 minutes) Let the crawfish and vegetables soak while stirring the pot often during the next 20 minute period During the last 10 to 15 minutes of cooking (soaking) time, add one dozen ear of corn and 1 lb. of whole mushrooms (place mushrooms in an onion sack and tie closed before placing in water) and let soak in water. Remove crawfish and veggies, and let drain for a few minutes Spread crawfish and veggies out over a newspaper-covered table Now, sit back, pop a few tops and suck a few heads Langnaipe: If you are to boil more crawfish (and approximately the same amount as in the first batch), of course you should use the same boiling water and add 1/2 to 1 box of salt and 1/2 the amounts listed for all other seasonings. All vegetables should be cooked in the first batch, with the exception of corn. Wow, this should keep ya' busy for a while!!! This
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