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Crawfish étouffée
Crawfish tails smothered in a buttery blond-roux sauce
Étouffée means 'smothered', and in Breaux Bridge, which calls itself the crawfish capital of the world, this is what happens to the spring crawfish catch from February to May. Peeled tails are simmered in a butter-based light roux with the trinity, garlic and cayenne until the sauce is glossy and orange with crawfish fat. Serve over white rice. Peeled frozen crawfish tails or raw prawns work well outside Louisiana. Chef's tip: keep any yellow crawfish fat in the pack; it gives the sauce its richness and colour.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 2 ⅞ oz butter
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 1 oniondiced
- 1 celery stickdiced
- 1 green pepperdiced
- 3 cloves garlicchopped
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 ¾ cups seafood or vegetable stock
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 spring onionssliced
- 2 tbsp fresh parsleychopped
- 1 ⅓ lb cooked long-grain riceto serve
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Melt the 2 ⅞ oz butter in a heavy pan over a medium heat, whisk in the 3 tbsp plain flour and cook 6–8 minutes, stirring, until the roux is the colour of peanut butter.
8 minStep 2: Add the 1 onion, 1 celery stick and 1 green pepper and cook 8 minutes until soft. Add the 3 cloves garlic and 1 tbsp tomato purée for 1 minute.
9 minStep 3: Whisk in the 1 ¾ cups seafood or vegetable stock with the ½ tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp paprika and 1 tsp salt and simmer 10 minutes until thickened.
10 minStep 4: Add the 16 oz peeled crawfish tails with their fat and their fat and simmer gently for 5 minutes, until heated through (if using raw prawns, until pink and opaque). A common mistake is cooking the tails longer, which makes them tough.
5 minStep 5: Stir in the 1 tbsp lemon juice, 3 spring onions and 2 tbsp fresh parsley and serve over the 1 ⅓ lb cooked long-grain rice.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- Protein
- 30 g
- Carbs
- 48 g
- Fat
- 22 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does crawfish étouffée take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 35 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
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