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Crawfish
étouffée, served at a restaurant in New Orleans. |
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Étouffée or etouffee is a Cajun dish typically served with
shellfish or chicken over rice and is similar to
gumbo. It is most popular in
New Orleans and in the bayou country of the southernmost half of Louisiana. |
In French, the word "étouffée" (borrowed into English as
"stuffed" or "stifled") means, literally, "smothered" or "suffocated", from the
verb "étouffer".
The usual staple of an étouffée is seafood such as
crawfish, shrimp, or
crabmeat. Other meats, such as chicken, or a combination of chicken and seafood,
are also used.
The base of an étouffée is either a dark brown-red roux, a blonde roux (a roux
that isn't browned as much) or simply onions cooked down in butter. Like many
Louisiana dishes, onions, green peppers and celery (a combination often referred
to as the holy trinity) form the base of an étouffée. It is usually seasoned
with cayenne pepper, white pepper, garlic, and salt and has a thicker
consistency than gumbo.
A crawfish étouffée, if made with a roux, usually has a reddish color: this is
sometimes mistakenly attributed to crawfish fat (an important ingredient).
Crawfish fat is bright yellow, and will not color the dish red: the red color
comes from the dark brown-red roux. Seasonings the crawfish were boiled in could
also give the dish a red tint. There is typically no tomato in this dish.
However, in some areas it has become popular to add tomatoes or tomato paste to
the dish.
A dark-red brown roux is used to make étouffée,
which requires the use of vegetable oil rather than butter. Butter burns more
easily than oil and it is difficult to make such a dark roux without burning the
butter.
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Crawfish
étouffée Recipe Ingredients |
- 1 pound peeled crawfish tails with
fat
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 stick of butter
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons onion tops
- 1/2 green bell pepper
- 2 cups water
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- cayenne pepper
- 3 tablespoons, finely sifted white
flour
- salt and black pepper
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Serves: 4.
Advice:
When crawfish are not available, substitute
shrimp, scallops, or lobster.
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Recipe Cooking and Preparation
Method |
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On low heat, melt butter in a deep, thick aluminum
chicken frying pan. Add chopped onion and bell pepper. Saute until
onions are clear in color --- at least 10 minutes. Season crawfish with
cayenne pepper, salt, paprika, and black pepper to taste. Add seasoned
crawfish, garlic, and water. Cook slowly. As water cooks down, add a
teaspoon of flour at a time and stir until color of sauce turns a golden
brown. Cook until crawfish are soft to the bite (around 40 minutes). |
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Food Serving Suggestion |
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Serve on rice and garnish with onion tops and
parsley. |
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