Crawfish (or Shrimp) Etouffee

 

From:

Paul Prudhomme 
 
serves 6 – 8  
 

I served this to Sharon and Janet the first time I cooked for them. Sharon paid me the highest compliment of my entire time cooking for people. She said it was better than her mama’s. 

Ingredients 

Seasoning mix:

  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)
  • 1 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried sweet basil leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

Étouffée

  • 1/4 cup chopped onions
  • 1/4 cup chopped celery
  • 1/4 cup chopped green bell peppers
  • 7 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups, in all, Basic Seafood Stock
  • 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, in all
  • 2 pounds peeled crawfish tails or medium shrimp
  • 1 cup very finely chopped green onions
  • 4 cups hot Basic Cooked Rice
 

Directions

Thoroughly combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl combine the onions, celery and bell peppers.

In a large heavy skillet (preferably cast iron), heat the oil over high heat until it begins to smoke, about 4 minutes. With a long-handled metal whisk, gradually mix in the flour, stirring until smooth. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until roux is dark red-brown, about 3 to 5 minutes (be careful not to let it scorch in the pan or splash on your skin). Remove from heat and immediately stir in the vegetables and 1 tablespoon of the seasoning mix with a wooden spoon; continue stirring until cooled, about 5 minutes. 

In a 2-quart saucepan bring 2 cups of the stock to a boil over high heat. Gradually add the roux and whisk until thoroughly dissolved. Reduce heat to low and cook until flour taste is gone, about 2 minutes, whisking almost constantly (if any of the mixture scorches, don’t continue to scrape that part of the pan bottom). Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat the serving plates in a 250° oven.

In a 4-quart saucepan melt 1 stick of the butter over medium heat. Stir in the crawfish (or shrimp) and the green onions; saute about 1 minute, stirring almost constantly. Add the remaining stick of butter, the stock mixture and the remaining 1 cup stock; cook until butter melts and is mixed into the sauce, about 4 to 6 minutes, constantly shaking the pan in a back-and-forth motion (versus stirring). Add the remaining seasoning mix; stir well and remove from heat (if sauce starts separating, add about 2 tablespoons more of stock or water and shake pan until it combines). Serve immediately.

To serve, mound ½ cup rice on each heated serving plate. Surround the rice with ¾ cup of the etouffée

Notes

Paul Prudhomme says this serves 8, but I’ve made and split it among 4 before too. It’s so good that serving to 8 is a bit stingy. I usually use more vegetables, even double. For the seafood stock I soak bonito flakes in boiling water for a few minutes and then strain. You can get bonito flakes at a Japanese grocery or some regular grocery stores now carry them. They also make a bonito stock powder that comes in packets. I’ve also used 1/2 bottled clam juice and 1/2 water. If you use all the spices it will be very hot. It’s damn good that way, but you’ll sweat eating it. I usually use about 2/3 of the spices called for. You may also use a pre-made Cajun spice mix, but I think it’s worth making this mixture. I’ve cut down on the butter a little before with good results. I made this many times with shrimp before finding frozen crawfish tails at Whole Foods or Asian grocery stores. It is better with crawfish.