Crayfish as food facts for kids
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| Main ingredients | Crayfish |
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Crayfish are small, freshwater creatures that look a lot like tiny lobsters. People all over the world enjoy eating them! Just like with lobsters, we usually only eat certain parts of the crayfish, mainly the meat from their tails. In many dishes, like tasty soups or stews, you'll find only the tail meat.
At big gatherings, like a "crawfish boil," where the whole crayfish is served, people might also enjoy the meat from the claws. This is especially true for larger crayfish. The fat inside the boiled crayfish can also hold a lot of flavor and seasoning, making it a special treat!
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Crayfish in Different Cuisines
Australia's Unique Crayfish
Australia is home to a special group of crayfish called Cherax. These are different from crayfish found in Europe, Asia, or the Americas. Two types of Australian edible crayfish are the common yabby (C. destructor) and the red claw (C. quadricarinatus).
The common yabby is similar in size to North American crayfish. However, it's not often raised for food outside Australia because it grows slowly and stays small. The "red claw" crayfish are much larger, about twice the size of North American crayfish. They also offer more edible meat, making them a popular choice.
Chinese Crayfish Delights
China has become the world's largest producer and consumer of crayfish. This change happened quickly since the mid-1990s as more restaurants opened. Many of the farmed crayfish are Red Swamp Crayfish. This species was brought to China in the 1930s.
The Red Swamp Crayfish is an invasive species. This means it's not native to China and can cause big changes to the local environment if it escapes from farms. Crayfish are caught in many rivers, ponds, and lakes across central and southern China. In some areas, like Yunnan, they can even be a problem for rice farmers.
Crayfish are prepared in many ways across different regions. A very popular home-cooked dish is "ma la xiao long xia." This is a hot and spicy soup with cucumber chunks and Sichuan peppercorns. Restaurants often offer spicier dishes stir-fried with other ingredients. You can also find them stir-fried with garlic or salted egg yolk for those who prefer less spice. Steamed whole crayfish are enjoyed for lighter flavors. Some people even soak steamed crayfish in Huadiao jiu (a type of Chinese wine) for several hours. These "ice-drunken" crayfish are common in eastern China.
French Crayfish Dishes
In France, dishes that use crayfish (called écrevisse) are often described as à la Nantuaise. This means they are prepared "in the style of Nantua," a town known for its crayfish dishes.
Crayfish tails and butter are also used to flavor Nantua sauce. This sauce is often served with a dish called quenelles. Historically, crayfish and fried eggs were a common garnish for chicken Marengo. However, these ingredients are often left out today.
Madagascar's Marbled Crayfish
In Madagascar, an invasive species called the Marbled crayfish is eaten. This crayfish is special because it is parthenogenic. This means its eggs can hatch without being fertilized, so all the offspring are exact copies, or clones, of the parent.
People's interest in eating these crayfish might have helped them spread a lot. Their numbers grew 100 times between 2007 and 2017.
Mexican Acocil
The Mexican crayfish, locally called acocil, was a very important food source for the ancient Aztec culture. Other regional names for crayfish include chacales, chacalines, and langostinos.
Today, crayfish are mainly boiled, similar to how they are prepared in other parts of the world. They are also cooked with traditional Mexican sauces and spices, especially in central and southern Mexico. Popular dishes include soups, tacos, and "cocktails" that are similar to shrimp dishes.
Nigerian "Crayfish"
In Nigeria, what people commonly call "crayfish" are actually small, dried shrimp or prawns. These are not true freshwater crayfish. They are a key ingredient in Nigerian cooking, usually smoked or sun-dried.
These dried shrimp and prawns are a very important food item across Nigeria, especially in the southern states. They add a lot of flavor and nutrients to many Nigerian dishes. True crayfish are not native to Nigerian waters.
Crayfish Parties in Nordic Countries
Crayfish are a very popular dish in Sweden and Finland. They are traditionally eaten at a "crayfish party," called kräftskiva, during the fishing season in August. The crayfish are typically boiled with salt, sugar, ale, and lots of dill stems and flowers.
While many people eat them warm, Swedes and Finns usually eat them cold. They let the crayfish sit in a salty liquid overnight. A traditional Swedish and Finnish custom is to enjoy crayfish with a shot of vodka or akvavit. Most crayfish in Sweden are caught by professional fishermen or people who own lakeside property.
The amount of local freshwater crayfish, Astacus astacus, and even an American species called Pacifastacus leniusculus, is very limited. To meet the high demand, most of the crayfish eaten in these countries are imported.
Russian and Ukrainian Crayfish
In Russia and Ukraine, crayfish (раки, singular рак) are a traditional seasonal appetizer. They are often enjoyed with beer and other drinks. Native crayfish, like Astacus astacus, tend to be larger. However, pollution in freshwaters and too much fishing have made them scarce.
Today, most crayfish come from other countries, like Armenia, Kazakhstan, and China. Before cooking, crayfish are often soaked in water or milk. Then, they are boiled live for 7–15 minutes in salty water with ingredients like carrots, onion, dill, parsley, bay leaf, and peppercorns.
More special preparations might include white wine, beer, sour cream, cloves, or chili peppers. Russians rarely use crayfish in complex dishes. Unlike some other cultures, they usually eat almost the entire crayfish, except for the shell and antennae. There's an old proverb that shows how much they value crayfish: "When there is no fish, even crayfish is a fish."
Spanish River Crabs
In Spain, crayfish are called cangrejo de río, which means "river crab." They used to be eaten very often, especially in regions like Castile and León and Aragon. However, too much fishing and the introduction of non-native crayfish species caused their numbers to drop a lot.
Today, native crayfish are a seasonal treat. Fishing for them is strictly forbidden because they are almost extinct. Instead, people often catch Procambarus clarkii or Pacifastacus leniusculus. These non-native species are now found in most Spanish rivers. Crayfish are usually stewed in tomato sauce.
United Kingdom's Signal Crayfish
In the United Kingdom, an invasive species from North America called the Pacifastacus leniusculus, or signal crayfish, is common. These crayfish escaped from fish farms in the 1960s. They brought a disease called crayfish plague which harmed the native species, Astacus astacus.
Signal crayfish are caught and used in various ways. They can be made into a soup with white wine, bay leaves, dill, and parsley. They are also used in fish pies or exported to other parts of Europe for food.
United States Crayfish Culture
In the United States, crayfish have many different names. People call them crawfish, crawdads, crawdaddies, fiddlers, or mudbugs. As of 2018, most crawfish farms in the US were in Louisiana. In 1987, Louisiana produced 90% of the world's crayfish. About 70% of these were eaten locally.
In 2007, Louisiana's crayfish harvest was about 54,800 tons, mostly from aquaculture (farming). About 70%–80% of Louisiana's crayfish are Procambarus clarkii (red swamp crawfish). The rest are Procambarus zonangulus (white river crawfish). Even with this large production, most frozen crayfish in supermarkets in other states are imported from China. By 2018, Asian farms produced most of the world's red swamp crayfish.
In Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Southeast Texas, crayfish are often served at a gathering called a crawfish boil. The crayfish are usually boiled live in a big pot with lots of seasoning. This includes salt, cayenne pepper, lemon, garlic, bay leaves, and more. Other items like potatoes, corn on the cob, onions, mushrooms, turkey necks, and sausage are often added.
There are many different ways to season a crawfish boil, and everyone has their favorite! Other popular dishes in the Cajun and Creole cooking of Louisiana include crawfish étouffée, fried crawfish, crawfish pie, and crawfish bisque. In Houston, Texas, a special style of Vietnamese-Cajun crawfish has also become popular. The Cherokee people have a long tradition of catching crawdads. They clean them, soak them in salty hot water, and then lightly bread them with cornmeal before frying.
Crayfish and Religions
Judaism
Crayfish, like all crustaceans, are not considered kosher in Judaism. This is because they are aquatic animals that do not have both fins and scales. Therefore, observant Jews do not eat them.
Preparing Crayfish for Meals
Crayfish are often cooked by boiling them. They are usually placed into rapidly boiling water with various seasonings. This method helps to cook them quickly and infuse them with flavor. Some places have rules about how seafood should be prepared.
See also
- Lobster as food
- Commercial crustaceans
 | Sharif Bey |
 | Hale Woodruff |
 | Richmond Barthé |
 | Purvis Young |
