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Fried Crawfish Tails

Source of Recipe

From "Eula Mae's Cajun Kitchen" by Eula Mae Dore


Recipe Introduction

"You'll often hear the locals call this 'popcorn' crawfish because you can just pop them in your mouth right after they're cooked and eat them like popcorn. You might want to double or triple the recipe because people go crazy over them!"Crawfish are so versatile and these fried tails are perfect for wedding receptions and cocktail parties. I call them 'finger food' because guests can pick them up and dab them in tartar sauce or remoulade sauce.'The locals like to shake crawfish, shrimp, chicken, and catfish in a brown paper bag in which they put the breading mixture. This is so much easier and neater than dredging them one by one, especially when you have a crowd and there's a large amount of food to fry,' says Eula Mae."

List of Ingredients

• 1 pound crawfish tails
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg white, beaten until slightly foamy
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp Tabasco pepper sauce
• 1½ cups homemade white bread crumbs
• 4 cups peanut oil for deep frying
• Tartar sauce or remoulade sauce


Recipe

Combine the crawfish tails, buttermilk, egg white, salt and Tabasco in a medium-size mixing bowl. Toss to coat evenly and let sit for about 10 minutes. Put the breadcrumbs in a large brown paper bag.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot or electric fryer to 360°F.
When it's hot, put the crawfish tails in the bag with the bread crumbs and shake to coat evenly. Fry the crawfish tails, 6 to 8 at a time, in the hot oil until they are lightly golden, about 3 minutes.

Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels, and serve immediately with the tartar or remoulade sauce on the side.

Makes 6 to 8 appetizer servings