Crawfish dishes in South Louisiana are
boiled, stewed, bisque and Etouffee to name a few. See
Recipes for Crawfish
Fresh crawfish are usually boiled or steamed in order to peel
them. Crawfish will cook completely in about 6 minutes in
boiling water and will toughen up some if overcooked.
If they died before cooking the meat will get somewhat mushy.
You can tell when you pull the tail away from the body and the
first piece of meat breaks off. Most of the time the crawfish
tail won't be curled.
How to Peel Crawfish
1. Pick a nice crawfish with a big tail
(that’s where all of the meat is!)
2. Hold the body and grab the tail.
3. Twist the tail to loosen it from the body.
4. Pull the tail away from the body.
5. Pinch the tail just above the fans. This makes the meat pop
out from the shell.