Crawfish Boil Chowder
 
 
Whether you live in crawfish country or not, there are two optional recipes for making this dish. I give you both the leftover crawfish boil option and how to make it from scratch. Either way, it's a simple soup to make.
Recipe by:
Serves: 4 to 6
Ingredients
Option 1: Chowder From Crawfish Boil Leftovers
  • 5 pounds seasoned and boiled whole Louisiana crawfish
  • 4 medium seasoned and boiled yellow onions
  • 6 ears seasoned and boiled corn on the cob
  • 6 small seasoned and boiled potatoes
  • 2 links seasoned and boiled smoked pork sausage
  • 1 quart water
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more if needed
  • 4 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more if needed
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • Hot sauce, to taste
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 4 whole crawfish, for garnish, optional
  • ½ cup diced green onion tops
Option 2: Chowder From Scratch
  • 1 cup dry crawfish boil seasoning mix
  • 4 medium whole yellow onions
  • 6 small potatoes
  • 2 links smoked pork sausage
  • 6 ears frozen corn on the cob
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more if needed
  • 4 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more if needed
  • 3 cups crawfish stock or seafood stock
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ½ pound Louisiana crawfish tail meat
  • Hot sauce, to taste
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 4 whole crawfish, for garnish, optional
  • ½ cup diced green onion tops
Instructions
Option 1: Chowder From Crawfish Boil Leftovers
  1. Separate the boiled crawfish from the rest of the cooked ingredients (onions, corn, potatoes, and sausage). Reserve 4 whole crawfish for garnish. Remove the heads from the remaining crawfish and place in a pot filled with the water. Peel the tail meat and place the shells in the pot. Reserve the tail meat for later. Over high heat, bring the pot to a boil and lower to a simmer and continue cooking until the stock reduces to 3 cups, about 20 minutes. Drain the stock into a container and discard the crawfish shells.
  2. Remove any outer peel or stem ends from the cooked onions, and chop into bite-size chunks. With a sharp knife, slice the corn from the cobs and discard the cobs. Slice the potatoes and sausage links into bite-size chunks.
  3. In a cast-iron pot over medium heat, melt the butter and add the flour. Combine the flour into the butter and stir to make a blond roux. Add the stock and stir to combine. Add all of the vegetables and sausage. Add the cream, and bring to a simmer. Continue cooking until the soup begins to thicken into a chowder consistency. If too thick, add more stock or water. If the chowder is not thick enough, make a beurre manié (a French technique for thickening a sauce) by combining 2 tablespoons softened butter with 2 tablespoons flour and add it to the pot to thicken.
  4. Add the crawfish tail meat and simmer for another 10 minutes Add hot sauce, salt, and pepper to taste. Serve in shallow bowls garnished with a whole boiled crawfish (optional) and diced green onion tops. Serve with hot French bread.
Option 2: Chowder From Scratch
  1. In a large pot over medium-high heat filled halfway with water, bring to a boil and add the seasoning. Add the onions, potatoes, and sausage to the water and boil until the potatoes are cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add the corn and cook for another 5 minutes. Drain the vegetables and sausage and let cool.
  2. Remove any outer peel or stem ends from the cooked onions, and chop into bite-size chunks.. With a sharp knife, slice the corn from the cobs and discard the cobs. Slice the potatoes and sausage links into bite-size chunks.
  3. In a cast-iron pot over medium heat, melt the butter and add the flour. Combine the flour into the butter and stir to make a blond roux. Add the stock and stir to combine. Add all of the vegetables and sausage. Add the cream, and bring to a simmer. Continue cooking until the soup begins to thicken into a chowder consistency, about 30 minutes. If too thick, add more stock or water. If the chowder is not thick enough, make a beurre manié (a French technique for thickening a sauce) by combining 2 tablespoons softened butter with 2 tablespoons flour and add it to the pot to thicken.
  4. Add the crawfish tail meat and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add hot sauce, salt, and pepper to taste. Serve in shallow bowls garnished with a whole boiled crawfish (optional) and diced green onion tops. Serve with hot French bread.
Notes
This recipe is easily scalable depending upon how much crawfish and other ingredients you have, and how many hungry folks are seated at your table. Remember that the ingredients are already seasoned so do not add any spices to the soup until you taste it. Crab and crawfish boil seasoning is sold in bags or in a dry mix, and there are numerous sources such as CajunGrocer.com. Frozen crawfish tail meat is indispensible in the Cajun kitchen and thankfully it is easily available online from a variety of sources like CajunGrocer.com.
Recipe by Acadiana Table at https://acadianatable.com/2021/03/01/crawfish-boil-chowder-2/