Author Topic: crayfish (Read 3657 times)

Mike in Virginia · « **on:** September 26, 2012, 11:12:36 AM »

Next time you have a fried chicken picknic and there's a stream nearby, chuck a little chicken in the water. It doesn't take long for any crayfish nearby to go for it. I found that out by accident, feeding minnows. Not much meat in the tail, but enough to make catching them worthwhile.

Ranger99 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 26, 2012, 12:56:39 PM »

are them cray things like crawdads?

hillbill · « **Reply #2 on:** September 26, 2012, 01:41:05 PM »

we call them crawdads here in missouri,up north and east they call them crayfish. my german gma from wisconsin called them crabs. down south i think they call them mudbugs.they are just a mini lobster. we used to catch a bunch of them in traps and boil them up in a old coffee can on the campfire. best to let them sit a day or so in clean water yu change regularily to clean out the mud vein in the tail before yu eat them.but sumtimes yur just hungry.the tails are good eatin peeled and dipped in melted seasoned butter! yummy!

blind ear · « **Reply #3 on:** September 27, 2012, 05:39:33 AM »

My favorite way to cook them is to break off the tail, pop the meat out by pressing on the end of the tail with thumb and side of index finger and roll forward and then s&p and cornmeal and a quick fry. The best! ear

52bagman · « **Reply #4 on:** September 27, 2012, 06:15:29 AM »

While they are still alive feed them some cornmeal overnight, this will clean out the gritty in them.

evidrine · « **Reply #5 on:** September 27, 2012, 07:50:45 AM »

No one down here (Lousisana) really call them "Mudd Buggs", even though I hear that claim alot from out of staters and on television. Down south its always "Crawfish" Mudd Buggs is pretty much just done in humor. Kinda like callin a squirrel a "tree rat".

blind ear · « **Reply #6 on:** September 27, 2012, 12:16:24 PM »

Quote from: evidrine on September 27, 2012, 07:50:45 AM

No one down here (Lousisana) really call them "Mudd Buggs", even though I hear that claim alot from out of staters and on television. Down south its always "Crawfish" Mudd Buggs is pretty much just done in humor. Kinda like callin a squirrel a "tree rat".

-
Yep, they have always been crawfish in the Miss Delta. People started saying Mudbugs in the seventies when eating them caught on so big around here. Few people ate them here before that. ear

Mike in Virginia · « **Reply #7 on:** September 28, 2012, 06:22:55 AM »

Yep, crawdads are there more southern names. Should have used that. I think the best way to cook them just like you would a lobster. Drob them alive into boiling water. When the tell turns red, it's ready. It's a quick food if you have a pot.
Another way to enjoy them is with boiled white oak acorns. If you have a day to waste just messing around, collect the crawdads and keep them alive and wet. A holed container in the creek is good. Then find some unwormy acorns, peel the shell off and drop them into the boiling water. When the water turns brown with tannin (the bitter stuff), drain and boil again. Keep on doing that until the water ain't brown. Takes a long time. When they are ready, cook the crawdads which only takes a minute. Now you've got a plate full of crawdads and un-bitter acorns.

blind ear · « **Reply #8 on:** September 28, 2012, 04:06:44 PM »

When the acorns are ready to eat do they have a flavor that is similar to anything else that is common fare? I want to know if I might like to put the time in to do it. Thanks. ear

Mike in Virginia · « **Reply #9 on:** September 29, 2012, 04:53:16 AM »

They are not all that good, but certainly edible. A nutty taste, but stronger. I think I've eaten more raw than I have cooked. White oak acorns are the best. They are falling now. It's good to be in the woods the day after or the very day they fall, or else the worms get inside. You can quickly see whether or not the shell has been drilled by a worm. If not, it's good to go.
You can take them home and cook them, which is easier because you don't have to keep a fire going. I once followed a recipe that said roast them in the oven after the boiling process, then sprinkle with powdered sugar. Didn't like those at all.

reliquary · « **Reply #10 on:** September 29, 2012, 10:06:40 AM »

I keep thinking about the first time we took a family from Michigan out to eat crawfish in Leesville, LA. At that restaurant, they just brought the tray out and dumped it on the (disposable) tablecloth; our guests said, "At home, we'd call the exterminators for stuff like this."

Tom W. · « **Reply #11 on:** September 29, 2012, 07:34:40 PM »

Some people just don't know what's good...
I, on the other hand, can't see myself knowingly eating testicles, or brains for that matter.

hunt-m-up · « **Reply #12 on:** September 30, 2012, 05:36:56 PM »

Quote from: Tom W. on September 29, 2012, 07:34:40 PM

Some people just don't know what's good...
I, on the other hand, can't see myself knowingly eating testicles, or brains for that matter.

That's unfortunate, I prefer the pig variety over calf balls, more solid texture and both very rich, there's a reason entire festivals are organized around them. My favorite growing up as a kid was seeing the whole beef toungue sticking up out of the pan...
Love crawdads, we just don't get them to the size that they do in the South.

finisher · « **Reply #13 on:** September 30, 2012, 06:17:40 PM »

Acquired the taste for many delicacies over seas that would make the average American puke. You'd be amazed what you can stomach when your hungry enough and you'v got enough fresh and fire hot chile peppers to mix in. Balute (fermanted duckling still in the shell (yeachggh!), sauteed jellyfish, boiled sea snails (most Asians I've seen like 'em a bit on the slimy side while I'll take them well cooked), and all the sashime and quail eggs I can get.

I used to make money betting shipmates on the things I'd eat. Cow brains aren't too bad depending on how they are prepared, which can vary from a lump of greasy mushy mess to a to spongy textured chunks that are like tofu (only without the negative male physiological effects) tasting like what ever you spice them with.

Never tried any kind of "balls" hog or beef, but I could eat crawdads and frog legs all day long.

Tom W. · « **Reply #14 on:** October 01, 2012, 07:07:35 AM »

There are Chitlin' festivals, too, and I don't see myself going there, either.

My late wife said she loved those mountain oysters when she was a child.

Mike in Virginia · « **Reply #15 on:** October 02, 2012, 08:04:37 AM »

I ain't eatin' no sex organs or attachments, no not ever. It matters not how they're prepared or what they taste like, I just won't. I mean what kind of survival situation could ever come up to where that's all you had? I think people eat them because of the "disgust" factor, just so they can say they did. Good grief, how did we get so far away from crawdads?

Mike in Virginia · « **Reply #16 on:** October 02, 2012, 01:13:37 PM »

This testacle thing is messing with my brain. Let's say we fall out of an airplane and survive, or we get shipwrecked, or find ourselves in the desert or in the winter Montana mountains. It ain't gonna be like, "Hey, look, pig testacles! Let's eat 'em." No. Not like that at all. If that part of the beast is there, lots more of it will be there also, and you can eat that. I'm just saying if I had to eat something like that to live, I would, but there's no chance of that. People eat such stuff for other reasons, and no matter what they say, taste ain't it. They have underlying issues that prod them in that direction. Lordy, I got to get these thoughts out of my head.

Ranger99 · « **Reply #17 on:** October 02, 2012, 01:22:22 PM »

most of the gory stuff folks eat is
because like when my folks were
young, there was no money at all,
and you raised or caught or traded
for food. my mom said when her and
my father were first married, they would
almost give you a beef brisket at the grocery
store, now it cost as much or more than steak.
i think in the past folks took what was available
to eat and figured out how to make it a little
more edible. i can see that first guy asking
a rancher for any waste cuts. " no don't
have anything, but here's a bucket of
calf nads if you want 'em."

hillbill · « **Reply #18 on:** October 02, 2012, 01:58:11 PM »

Quote from: Mike in Virginia on October 02, 2012, 01:13:37 PM

This testacle thing is messing with my brain. Let's say we fall out of an airplane and survive, or we get shipwrecked, or find ourselves in the desert or in the winter Montana mountains. It ain't gonna be like, "Hey, look, pig testacles! Let's eat 'em." No. Not like that at all. If that part of the beast is there, lots more of it will be there also, and you can eat that. I'm just saying if I had to eat something like that to live, I would, but there's no chance of that. People eat such stuff for other reasons, and no matter what they say, taste ain't it. They have underlying issues that prod them in that direction. Lordy, I got to get these thoughts out of my head.

well dont know how we went from crawdads to testicles so quick? crawdads are good food, kinda tedious to eat but good. calf testicles are fine also and sumtimes the rest of the aninimal is NOT available. imagine your a cowboy branding and cutting calves, ok yur hungry, ok throw the nuts on the branding fire and cook them and eat them. that way is ok and yu will be hungry after wrasseling 100 calves to the ground! the cook shows up and says hey let me bread them and fry them in a skillet full of lard if yu want to eat them,wow the cowboys say!we had a good meal and did not have to kill a calf to get it.we will have to try that again! there are no underlying issues.some people are just not that squemish about what food goes in there mouth.

now i eat lots of stuff like that. but if yu said " hey lets go to a big chain resteraunt and eat sum food of questionable age prepared by min wage workers who may have dropped it on the floor or done other things to it" id prob say "yuck". ill stay home and eat some deer liver.

Gus McCrae · « **Reply #19 on:** October 02, 2012, 02:13:32 PM »

What the heck is a crayfish?

I do love me some crawfish though.

52bagman · « **Reply #20 on:** October 03, 2012, 03:23:11 AM »

What's a crawfish? Think small fresh water lobster.
Now that every one is talking about eating strange things, how'd you like to be the first person to find out where an egg comes from after eating them?

txpitdog · « **Reply #21 on:** October 03, 2012, 04:07:14 AM »

Booyah! The excitement around crawfish season at our house almost equals that of hunting season and football season. We do ours with a seasoning called Slap Ya Mama, and I throw in corn, potatoes, deer sausage, and heads of garlic. Ice cold beer, stereo cranked, and then a jump in the pool afterwards. Life is good!

Mike in Virginia · « **Reply #22 on:** October 03, 2012, 01:33:28 PM »

txpitdog, I think I'd like to live with you. Got an extra room?

hillbill · « **Reply #23 on:** October 03, 2012, 02:12:32 PM »

Quote from: txpitdog on October 03, 2012, 04:07:14 AM

Booyah! The excitement around crawfish season at our house almost equals that of hunting season and football season. We do ours with a seasoning called Slap Ya Mama, and I throw in corn, potatoes, deer sausage, and heads of garlic. Ice cold beer, stereo cranked, and then a jump in the pool afterwards. Life is good!

my god thats a big ole pot of good eating!

Gus McCrae · « **Reply #24 on:** October 03, 2012, 04:24:41 PM »

Quote from: txpitdog on October 03, 2012, 04:07:14 AM

Booyah! The excitement around crawfish season at our house almost equals that of hunting season and football season. We do ours with a seasoning called Slap Ya Mama, and I throw in corn, potatoes, deer sausage, and heads of garlic. Ice cold beer, stereo cranked, and then a jump in the pool afterwards. Life is good!

A Yankee friend of mine (he's from Illinois), moved down here years ago and soaked in everything Louisiana. He is very very very good at boiling crawfish. We'll do a party every year and he'll cook. Missed this year though due to a broke leg on my part.

2011, we did three batches about this size.

finisher · « **Reply #25 on:** October 03, 2012, 05:28:34 PM »

Here's a new one: How about "River Roaches"

. I've been calling shrimp "Sea Roaches" for years. That looks like some good eatin' by the way Gus.

Ranger99 · « **Reply #26 on:** October 03, 2012, 05:33:40 PM »

yall are sure braver than me.
i don't have my bare feet or
toes around anything hot like
a grill or cooker or welder.

Gus McCrae · « **Reply #27 on:** October 04, 2012, 08:59:35 AM »

Quote from: Ranger99 on October 03, 2012, 05:33:40 PM

yall are sure braver than me.
i don't have my bare feet or
toes around anything hot like
a grill or cooker or welder.

As long as he's making some good crawfish, I don't question his attire!

)

txpitdog · « **Reply #28 on:** October 04, 2012, 11:17:09 AM »

Our family and friends all really like how we do crawfish but once I started throwing in deer sausage, everyone fought over the sausage and just picked at the crawfish! The way the sausage soaks up the seasoning and the mild game flavor are just awesome.

After the last batch is finished I throw a couple whole chickens into the boil water and cook those for cajun chicken salad and other good eatin'. Dang all this talk and still 6 months to go before next season!

Gus McCrae · « **Reply #29 on:** October 04, 2012, 01:40:02 PM »

Another good "something different but tasty" try sliced (big slices) of sweet potatoes. Take a big one and cut it into two or three pieces and toss them in. It's quite good.