Crawfish Etouffee Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you make crawfish étouffée thicker? ›

Flour: All-purpose flour thickens the étouffée. Tomato sauce: Canned tomato sauce lends even more depth of flavor.

My trick for the crawfish tail meat is to add fresh squeezed lemon juice to them before adding into the light roux base with vegetables. That way, if you are introducing yourself to the crawfish world, you won't be put off by the fishy smell. It doesn't take long to make, especially since the roux is light.

Étouffée is the French word for "smothered," and what it really describes is a Cajun and Creole cooking method in which a protein like shrimp is cooked on the stovetop in a thick, roux-based sauce.

Blond roux is so named because of its light caramel color. It is cooked a bit longer than a white roux to produce a nuttier flavor. Blond roux is used for Velouté and can be substituted in recipes calling for a white roux. Brown roux is the foundation of roux-based New Orleans dishes such as étouffée and gumbo.

Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to incorporate and begin cooking the flour. Add some of the stock and continuing stirring until it begins to thicken. Add more stock until you get a stew-like thickness.

Seither suggests letting the crawfish soak for at least 30 minutes for flavors to develop. In a process called “killing the boil” or “shocking the crawfish boil,” he suggests cooling down the cooked crawfish with ice and frozen corn to stop the cooking process.

Never eat crawfish meat that is mealy, mushy, easily tears apart or has an off color or flavor. These conditions indicate that the crawfish was dead prior to cooking. Crawfish meat will sometimes darken or turn "blue" when cooked in etouffee or stews. There is really nothing wrong with the meat.

Place the crawfish in the strained basket and lower into the boiling/cook pot. As soon as it reaches a boil (about 5-10 min) start a timer for 3 min. Remove the strainer basket from the boiling pot and lower it into the soaking pot (water temp should be around 160 degrees). Soak the crawfish for 20 min.

Onions and Garlic

It will add a tastier and stronger taste, which can make it savory and tastier! You can just throw the onion in the seafood boil without cutting it, but you can also cut them in half, chop them, or dice them before adding the crawfish.

Using cornstarch to thicken sauce is very similar to using flour, but you need different quantities: Use one tablespoon cornstarch mixed with one tablespoon cold water (aka a cornstarch slurry) for each cup of medium-thick sauce.

What if etouffee is too thick? ›

If etouffee is too thick, add ¼ cup more stock. Reduce heat to a simmer, adjust the flavor to taste, add crawfish tails.

Shrimp Creole and Shrimp Etouffee are similar dishes but are not the same. An etouffee has a consistency that is more like gravy and is thicker than shrimp creole sauce. Shrimp creole has a tomato base while shrimp etouffee has a roux for its base.

To make my etoufee spicy, I use Louisiana sauce. Louisiana sauce is the best because it has the perfect balance of spicy to acidity, and limited ingredients.

There's no right or wrong to which fat you use; it just depends on what flavor you want. In a dairy-heavy sauce, like milky béchamel, butter is the common choice (and is also the more common fat in most French roux), while oil is often preferred in Creole and Cajun cooking.

The stew should be thick and hearty. If it's not, smash a few root vegetables to thicken it. Serve in generous bowls and top with chopped cilantro.

The most readily available sauce-thickener is flour. For a too-thin sauce, try adding a slurry (equal parts flour and water, whisked together) or beurre manie (equal parts softened butter and flour, kneaded together to form a paste)—both are ideal thickeners for rich and creamy sauces, such as steak sauce recipes.