Best seasoning to use for crawdad boil?
My husband will be in New Orleans this weekend for business. In two weeks we're having a party and I'm having some live Louisiana crawdads shipped to me so we can have a crawdad boil with our friends (we live in California). So, since he's going to be in crawdad country he'll be able to pick up the right ingredients for me!
What is the best spice mix to use for a crawdad boil that he could find fairly easily to bring home to me?
babyfork
May 05, 2004 09:26PM
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i love the liquid zatarains concentrate...i just brought home a large bottle this week...good for crab, shrimp, potato...you can buy it online also, either at zat's site or cajun grocer.com amongst others. enjoy!
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Yes, the liquid Zatarain's crab boil is the gold standard (no pun intended, it does have a yellow label). But I'd get both the liquid as well as the dry stuff (packaged as a loose, dry mix as well as premeasured "sack-size" boil-in baggies). For some reason, the dry stuff packs more of a wallop (or is it just easier to use more dry stuff, whereas you're careful with the liquid?). Try both and you decide. Note: the liquid is quite useful as a seasoning; it contains essential pepper, bay, and other flavoring oils, so it works well to season boiled potatoes, corn, boiled beef, etc. I also use it to bolster the pepper flavor in soups & stews...
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we had a boil in late feb in dc, and had 3 sacks shipped from louisiana, and they were beauts. they were packaged well and came with dry boil seasoning. my sister got them, so don't know the purveyor, but i could find out if you like. if you follow the instructions for the liquid zats, you'll be disappointed, so pour it in. i've used 2oz for shrimp in maybe 3qts, and could a used more to my pallette. but it does have superior flavor. you can always throw a little cayenne in there to....
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Actually, if you can find the name of your supplier, I'd much appreciate it. The guy I used last time was a bit of a disappointment.
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cajuncrawfish.com...good luck + bon appitit
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From my observations of Frank's boiling adventures, the dry packad stuff does have a opotency AND the liquid has a LOT of salt added to it. BEWARE!
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Although not a native, I have over the many years of working in the area been told by most of the local folks you really can't ship live crawfish. A good bit of them will die on the way and you have to cook them live. Maybe I'm all wet on this, but just thought I would offer the caution. Perhaps there's somebody out there who has developed a reliable method of shipping them from out of the area, but be ware.
That having been said, if you still want crawfish, get them cooked and packed to ship. The flavourings vary depending on where you go. I like and have used successfully that place up on Williams, just north of I-10 over by the airport. The name escapes me, maybe someone else can supply that info. I think its Fisherman's Cove. They do a good job of both cooking and packing. Have hubby stop off there and bring them home with him. It's real convenient to the airport.
Good Luck
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If you're buying from a reliable supplier with shipping experience, you'll do just fine. Cold packs, proper packaging, proper ventilation, etc. will cut down on the "death rate". Plus, you can also spring for special handling from an overnight shipper if you're really worried.
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