The tail of the crayfish, the so-called “crawfish neck”, and sometimes the claws – this is what is usually considered edible in the crayfish. Although getting meat from there is not the easiest task. But this is not the only thing edible in crayfish. Strictly speaking, everything in crayfish is edible except the stomach and intestines - these things can even cause poisoning. But to get to the crayfish meat, you need to open its shell. Evgeniy Ivanov, concept chef of the Odoevsky restaurant and the Professor Puf kitchen, shows how to properly clean and eat crayfish
Eating crayfish is an art. And not everyone owns it. In the south of Russia, in Kuban and in the Rostov region, they know how to eat crayfish. I'm from Kuban, so I'll show you everything.
You need to understand that boiled crayfish must be infused for a long time in the brine where it was boiled. Therefore, this crayfish is already full of brine, which is very tasty. In order not to spill anything from there, we turn the crayfish upside down.
I will note that you need to eat crayfish with your hands, you will have to suck out a lot, and even doing it noisily, with squelching - this is normal.
Be sure to look at the crayfish’s tail, it should be curled like a snail. If the tail is straight, this means that the crayfish was cooked dead, and it can be poisoned. You can't eat this kind of cancer.
Cancerous cervix
This is the best and most delicious thing about crayfish. It can be opened like a lady, with scissors. But the best thing, and the right thing to do, is to do without them: bite the side of the tail with your teeth, open the shell and take out the neck.
And then you only have one more procedure left - you will need to remove the intestines. Although if your cancer lives in an aquarium for a long time before cooking, then the intestines will be clean and you don’t have to take it out. If it was recently caught, it is still better to pull it out.
And one more tip - if you have to clean and eat a lot of crayfish, it is better to wear gloves. You will definitely ruin your manicure, because crayfish are quite a dirty business.
How to cook crayfish correctly? — read soon on AiF-Kitchen
Don't know how to clean crayfish? It's easy, we'll teach you!
Crayfish meat is indeed very tasty and healthy, but if you don’t know how to clean them, you can throw most of it in the trash.
Crayfish are edible not only in the neck (tail), but also in the claws. The only thing you need to get rid of is the chitinous shell and entrails. You can clean cancer both before and after heat treatment.
Why are crayfish considered so beneficial?
Crayfish are nutritious and healthy. In many countries they were even used as a remedy.
Crayfish contain easily digestible proteins with a low percentage of fat and carbohydrates, as well as many vitamins, macro-, microelements and other useful substances, which are a kind of “building” materials for the body.
Preparing crawfish - do you need to wash them before cooking?
Before cooking crayfish, be sure to rinse them thoroughly. Moreover, it is better to leave them in the water for as long as possible in order to remove algae, silt and other contaminants from the shell. This preparation involves several stages of washing and rinsing.
Today, real gourmets offer many ways to make crayfish meat even more tasty and satisfying. To do this, at the preparation stage they are marinated in sour cream or milk diluted with water. After this, they are thoroughly washed. Boiled crayfish taste much better if they are washed before cooking.
How to wash crayfish from dirt before cooking
Live crayfish must be washed thoroughly so that no contaminants remain on them. But it should be borne in mind that if they remain in water for a long time, they die, so soaking them for a long time is not recommended.
If there is still a lot of time left before cooking, it is better to leave them on dry land.
It is much easier to wash crayfish at home than in nature, but in both cases there are some tricks.
To wash a crayfish at home, you need:
- fill the crayfish with water
To do this, you need to choose a large container or place them in the bathroom. Then leave it in this state for a couple of hours to cleanse the intestines.
- change the water several times
With each change of water, the crayfish should be allowed to “swim” for 10 minutes with periodic stirring to identify sleeping individuals, which are immediately removed. Additionally, you can add salt to the water;
- can be washed in the shower
With high water pressure, use a shower to remove any remaining dirt and salt if it was used during soaking. Some chefs find that salt makes cleaning easier. It is not necessary to wash the crayfish in the shower; this measure is necessary if there is contamination from previous water procedures.
- clean hard-to-reach places well from dirt
To wash all areas, including the abdomen, between the legs and other hard-to-reach places, you can use an old toothbrush. Its fibers will remove the remaining sand, silt and other debris. Particular attention should be paid to the place where the legs are attached to the body, there is the most favorable environment for the accumulation of sand.
In “field” conditions, washing crayfish is much more difficult, so there are several options: wash the crayfish at home and transport them in ice, or, when going fishing, stock up on plenty of water, salt and a deep container in which it all can be mixed well.
How to cook at home
There are many ways to cook crayfish. Many remain committed to boiling, but in addition to this, they are grilled, stewed in milk or beer, and baked. But gourmets still agree on one thing - crayfish should be cleaned after cooking, and not raw.
It is necessary to cook crayfish only while they are alive; it is not recommended to cook dead carcasses. Until the crayfish are fully cooked, it will take no more than 15 minutes of bathing over high heat. The water must be boiling; time is measured only after boiling.
You can tell when a crayfish is ready by its color; it turns bright red. After turning off the fire, the crayfish are not taken out immediately; they need some time to brew.
How to properly clean boiled crayfish
Crayfish can be cleaned before cooking, but this is not recommended. The only thing to do is rinse well and remove the insides.
In order to remove the insides of a crayfish, you need to twist the middle part of the tail slightly and carefully pull it out along with the intestines. This measure will help get rid of the taste of the swamp, which in some cases manifests itself quite clearly.
Additionally, you can add any spices to the water, thereby adding piquancy.
Cleaning crayfish after heat treatment is a whole complex of measures consisting of the following stages:
- tear off the legs
The meat is also contained in the legs, so they come off and, by squeezing, the contents come out from there.
- open the claws
There is quite a lot of meat in the claws, so they need to be carefully opened with scissors.
- separate the cephalothorax
The cephalothorax is separated from the abdomen; to do this, you need to turn the crayfish onto its back and break the shell, pulling it in different directions. Inside there is a white coating - fat, it is no less healthy and tasty, so you should not throw it away.
- remove the gills
After disassembling the shell, you should break off the gills from the neck, which contain liquid, some people also love it.
- get the belly meat
When all the other parts have been eaten, you can proceed to the belly meat (crayfish neck). To do this, you need to tear off the feathers located at the tip of the tail (it is better to use scissors), divide the shell and pull out the meat. An intestinal vein runs through the middle if it is not removed before cooking, so before eating the treat, you need to divide it into 2 parts and remove the excess.
Video instructions on how to eat crayfish correctly.
Useful tips
- the most delicious meat comes from crayfish caught in the spring;
- live crayfish can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days;
- frozen crayfish can be stored for a month;
- in order to prolong the life of crayfish, you need to place them in water and feed them so that they do not attack each other;
- they can be stored for a long time in a state of suspended animation, surrounded by ice cubes, or in water with salt;
- to determine how the crayfish served in a cafe was cooked, you need to look at the tail - if it is tucked under the body, it means it was cooked alive;
- dead crayfish are dangerous to health, this is due to the rapid decomposition of carcasses after death, resulting in possible poisoning (at best);
- to improve the taste of crayfish, before cooking they need to be placed in water with sour cream or milk, the meat will be tender and juicy;
- Delicious crayfish are obtained by cooking in vegetable broth; to do this, you need to first boil the carrots and then remove them from the water.
In order to get a tasty dish of crayfish, you must fulfill the minimum conditions: you need to choose them wisely, wash them thoroughly and cook them correctly, and the ability to clean crayfish will allow you not to lose a single piece of tender, tasty meat.
Preparing for cooking
Raka, like any other product, must be prepared before cooking. It needs to be cleaned and rinsed properly. It should be understood that due to the fact that most of the time crayfish arrive in muddy burrows and at the bottom of the reservoir, their shell is covered with a layer of mucus and dirt, which must be removed.
First of all, you need to soak the crayfish in water in several passes:
- The crayfish are filled with water and left for 1-2 hours. This time is necessary for arthropods to cleanse the intestines. The procedure is very important, as it allows you to avoid troubles while eating the product. After the allotted time, the dirty water needs to be drained; along with the internal dirt, some of the external dirt will come off.
- Fill with water again, now for no more than 5-10 minutes. In this case, you need to actively mix the crayfish to remove as much dirt as possible from them. Drain the water again.
- Pour in a third time and stir vigorously again. Drain the water again after 5-10 minutes.
This should be enough to cleanse the cancer of impurities. But if dirty areas are still visible outwardly, you should wash the crayfish manually.
Crayfish is cooked only alive; if dead specimens float to the surface during the soaking process, they must be thrown away.
Cooking
The smell, color and taste of finished crayfish depends on how well you wash them.
Step 1. First, the crayfish must be washed thoroughly. Pay special attention to the area under the abdomen. Rinse with a brush until clean water.
Step 2. Fill with water for 1 hour. We need to make sure that all crayfish are alive and active.
Step 3. Prepare all the necessary ingredients for the broth per 1 kg of crayfish: 1–1.3 liters of water:
- a bunch of dill;
- 3 bay leaves;
- 3 peas of allspice;
- 4 cloves of garlic;
- 1 generous tablespoon of salt.
You can take more water. Then increase the other ingredients of the broth accordingly.
Mix everything.
Step 4. When the water boils, check once again whether your crayfish are alive and active. Place them one at a time, preferably head down.
They don’t eat dead crayfish because they release toxins, since 10% of their diet consists of organic waste.
Step 5. Cook from the moment of boiling for 13–15 minutes, with the lid closed.
Step 6. 5 minutes before readiness, add 10-15 grams of butter to the broth.
Step 7. Leave for 15–20 minutes. The crayfish should be well salted and nourished.
Step 8. The crayfish are ready. Proceed to cutting and eating. Or you can wait until it cools down completely.
Boiled crayfish for the holiday with corn
Those who love seafood will definitely appreciate this original recipe - with corn on the cob and aromatic spices. This dish will fit best into your holiday table, and guests will note the extraordinary taste of crayfish.
Take:
- Cancers
- Water
- Corn
- Salt, spices, bay leaf - to taste
Cooking method in stages:
Step 1. Pour water into the pan and put it on the fire. Add salt, black peppercorns, coriander and garlic. Also add bay leaf and sliced lemon.
Step 2. As soon as the water boils, place the ears of corn, cut into 2 - 3 pieces, into the pan.
Step 3: Cook the corn until it is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Then put the pre-washed crayfish there and cook for another 5 minutes. Carefully drain the water and place everything back into the pan.
Step 4. Cover it with a clean towel and a lid, let the crayfish stand and soak in the aroma and juice for a couple more minutes.
Garnish the finished dish with fresh herbs. Bon appetit!
Does crayfish hurt when they are boiled?
It is customary to boil crayfish alive, as it is believed that they do not feel pain. In fact, this claim is refuted by animal activists. Some people think that crustaceans feel pain just like many other living creatures. Experts believe that it is difficult to talk about a painful reaction, since the very concept of pain has not yet been fully defined. The reaction of a living organism to an influence under which a person may experience pain does not yet prove that the animal can also feel it.
Making crayfish appetizer is very easy to make and eating it will bring a lot of pleasure. Everyone decides for themselves whether it is worth subjecting the crustacean to torture, or whether it does not experience pain at all.
