I bought some frozen crawfish tails one time from Rouse's Supermarket which is a NOLA based grocer and has pretty authentic Louisiana/cajun stuff. I was making a quick dip or something and picked up some "BOUDREAUX'S CRAWFISH TAILS". When I got home and read it closely...the flippin BOUDREAUX'S crawfish tails were a product of China. :dis: I was level 3 pissed.
Haha. They're called different things in different places. I've even been north of I-10. I kid you not. What I actually bought were called langosta. Will dig in my freezer this weekend, but after reading the responses here I'm not optimistic it was Louisiana crawfish I bought. Will be a real kick in the pants if I paid a ridiculous amount, plus shipping, to have Chinese crawfish shipped here from Louisiana.
We do too. Best thing is to cook it then freeze. Pop out a quick meal when you're tired, camping, etc. At one time we had 300 acres of crawfish. I'd peel a sack, cook it and freeze a bunch of containers. Keeps really well. We bought some La. ones the other day for $12.00, I think she said. I've eaten the Chinese and they're okay but definitely bland compared to Louisiana ones. The Chinese ones don't have the pancreas (what most think is the fat). Maybe they rinse them, I don't know.
The ones from China are cheaper for a few reasons, no FDA supervision, labor prices are equal or less than what we pay our prisoners and no OSHA regulations.
Those chinese crawfish are also 12oz bags where the Louisiana ones are usually a full pound. There're a LOT of rice fields in China... they learned from the cajuns to have a cash crop of mudbugs when rice isn't being grown. ETA: I think I also read somewhere a couple of years back that they are going to try 'growin them crawdads' in Sweden or Norway. Not sure if they ever tried it or if they did if they were successful.
i see the chinese boiled ones like that in oklahoma in the specialty meats and seafood case of the grocery store. looks pitiful to me. one day i was waiting in line to get a couple of big rib eye steaks, and some guy was there with his girlfriend, obviously trying to impress her with his food knowledge. they obviously had no idea about crawfish and she seemed totally confused about the idea, and he was discussing it with her trying to look smart, and told here that since there were two of them a pound would be more than enough for dinner. it was all i could do to keep a straight face.
We got into the crawfish business early (80's). At one point we would sell to the Swede's off of our farm. They'd buy "selects"-8-10 per pound I think it was. By the time they shipped them back the consumers in Sweden would pay $14.00 a pound.
I've used chinese crawfish tails in my dishes often in the past. I've learned you can't trust them. On a good day they are suitable but on a bad day they can be fishy smelling and tasting. It will turn a batch of gumbo that you have simmered all day long to perfection. The inconsistency is probablly due to the fact that they do not stay frozen during shipment. A batch may sit on the docks for days waiting to go through customs or at some other transfer point to your store. La crawfish have been good everytime.....and my momma was right yet again.
