Fried Softshell Crab topped with Crawfish Étouffée
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Recipe by:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
Crawfish Étouffée
  • 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, finely diced
  • ½ cup finely diced celery
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 pounds Louisiana crawfish tail meat
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups crawfish stock or seafood stock
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Dash of hot sauce
Softshell Crabs
  • 4 large softshell Louisiana blue crabs, cleaned
  • 1 gallon canola oil
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons Acadiana Table Cajun Seasoning Blend, see recipe here
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon hot sauce
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 slices toasted white bread
  • 2 cups cooked Louisiana long-grain white rice, such as Supreme
  • 4 lemon wedges
Instructions
Crawfish Étouffée
  1. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and add the onions, bell pepper, and celery. Sauté for 5 minutes just until tender, add the garlic and season the mixture with cayenne. Add the crawfish tail meat stirring to combine. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook for another 5 minutes.
  2. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to incorporate and begin cooking the flour. Add some of the stock and continuing stirring until it begins to thicken. Add more stock just until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
  3. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Turn off the heat and keep warm until serving.
Softshell Crabs
  1. Rinse the crabs and pat dry with paper towels to remove any moisture. Place them on a platter lined with paper towels.
  2. In a deep pot over medium-high heat, add the oil. Bring to a temperature of 375ªF.
  3. In a shallow container, add the flour and seasoning and blend together.
  4. In a shallow container, add the half and half along with the buttermilk and hot sauce. Stir to blend.
  5. Remove the crabs and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Place the crabs in the liquid and then dredge in the seasoned flour. Roll them to coat on both sides.
  6. Shake off any excess flour from each crab and place in the hot grease being careful not to crowd the pot. Fry the crabs until golden brown on both sides, about 8 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined platter and keep warm. Repeat until all the crabs are cooked.
  7. For serving, cut the toast in half and place on a platter. Cut each softshell crab in half and place on each toast half. Add a mound of cooked rice in the space between the crab and ladle over a generous amount of crawfish étouffée. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
Recipe by Acadiana Table at https://www.acadianatable.com/2023/06/05/fried-softshell-crab-with-crawfish-etouffee/