Crawfish Boil Soup

Taste creole without spending the money to get there

Let’s say you just had a crawfish boil and there is a good amount leftover. Or maybe you went out and bought some at a stand and the price was better for 10 pounds instead of 5. Or you just have a ton of cooked crawfish.

Well this soup is for you.

This soup requires two types of stock and it is not a quick dish to make. The cooked crawfish shells are very important.

Hey if you don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen shelling crawfish and making stock then skip this.

Crawfish Boil Soup

• 3 lbs cooked crawfish
• 1 1/2 lbs whole fish such as trout, catfish, red snapper etc.
• 1 onion diced really fine
• 2 ribs celery chopped small
• 4 lbs red potatoes cut into large bite size chunks
• 2 ears corn
• 2 green peppers cut into small bite size pieces
• 28 ounce can whole tomatoes blended
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley
• Salt/pepper
• 2 tbsp butter

Start by pulling all the meat from the crawfish and setting aside. Save the shells and discard the guts and brains. In a large bowl rinse the shells really, really well to get as much of the seasoning off as possible. It will take about 30 minutes for the water to run fairly clear. This step is crucial because even after rinsing there will be a ton of spice and saltiness attached to the shells. Steam the corn and cut the kernels from the cobs. In a large stock pot, at least 12 cups, place the shells and corn cobs and fill with water. Bring to a boil and skim off any foam, then reduce heat to a medium simmer and cook for about 45 minutes. When done you should have about 8-10 cups of crawfish stock after straining. Set aside. Fillet fish and wash the bones and heads well. Place the bones and heads in a stock pot with four cloves garlic and cover with water. Do not add salt. Bring to a boil skim the foam and simmer for 40 minutes. Strain fish stock and set aside. Measure out six cups crawfish stock and four cups fish stock. In a really large stock pot heat butter and saute onion until golden brown over very low heat. Add celery and saute until soft, then add potatoes, stir well and cover. Sweat vegetables for five minutes then add measured stocks, tomatoes and green pepper. Taste. If too salty or spicy add more fish stock or water to get it to desired flavor. If not spicy enough add more crawfish stock. Do not add salt though, even if it seems to need it. Bring to a boil, turn heat to medium and cook until potatoes mash with a spoon and soup broth has reduced by at least a quarter. Add corn and raw fish. Cook for five minutes then add crawfish meat. Cook another five minutes and then check for seasoning. If it needs salt then add it now. Add parsley and serve with toasted bread and hot sauce.

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