PEI Mussels vs. well, Mussels

[medtran49]

LIVE CRAWFISH???? I have waited so long to get my hands on quality live crawfish. I currently utilize the frozen Riceland Brand as there are no live crawfish in Virginia. I am jealous!

You can order them online. Some companies use overnight, first delivery FedEx. Others use same day air cargo, airport to airport, you have to go to cargo office and pay. It's not cheap either way, but if you get a whole bunch, the air cargo is worth it.

The tails can be frozen, shell on or peeled, after cooking. Remove the heads and most of the fat, as it will go rancid. I used to bring home 70-80 pounds when I'd drive to see my dad before he passed. My fingers would get sore picking that many, so I discovered I could leave the tail shells on. If I remember correctly, 1.5 pounds shell on tails equalled 1 pound of shelled tails.

We used to order on line and have shipped same day air but found that a local restaurant supply place brings sacks in during season. You might want to check into that. You have to buy a lot, but they freeze, so...

Oh, if you order on line, make sure you get wild caught or first river run for best quality.

 

[Yankee00]

You can order them online. Some companies use overnight, first delivery FedEx. Others use same day air cargo, airport to airport, you have to go to cargo office and pay. It's not cheap either way, but if you get a whole bunch, the air cargo is worth it.

The tails can be frozen, shell on or peeled, after cooking. Remove the heads and most of the fat, as it will go rancid. I used to bring home 70-80 pounds when I'd drive to see my dad before he passed. My fingers would get sore picking that many, so I discovered I could leave the tail shells on. If I remember correctly, 1.5 pounds shell on tails equalled 1 pound of shelled tails.

We used to order on line and have shipped same day air but found that a local restaurant supply place brings sacks in during season. You might want to check into that. You have to buy a lot, but they freeze, so...

Oh, if you order on line, make sure you get wild caught or first river run for best quality.

Thank you for this medtran49. I am in a unique situation whereas neither my wife nor my daughter will even consider eating crawfish, so 30lbs, 40lbs sacks don't seem to be in my future.

Additionally, I have not had good luck with Louisiana Crawfish Company, Acadia Crawfish Company or Cajun Crawfish Company as I ordered "frozen" crawfish from them and none of them were purged and all tasted like dirt. Living in Virginia and wanting small batches of crawfish can definitely be a challenge.

 

[caseydog]

Thank you for this medtran49. I am in a unique situation whereas neither my wife nor my daughter will even consider eating crawfish, so 30lbs, 40lbs sacks don't seem to be in my future.

Additionally, I have not had good luck with Louisiana Crawfish Company, Acadia Crawfish Company or Cajun Crawfish Company as I ordered "frozen" crawfish from them and none of them were purged and all tasted like dirt. Living in Virginia and wanting small batches of crawfish can definitely be a challenge.

The only frozen crawfish products I buy is frozen meat, to use in things like crawfish etouffee. That frozen tail meat has always tasted good.

If your wife and daughter like shrimp, you might want to buy some frozen crawfish tail meat and use it as you would shrimp.

CD

 

[taxlady]

I haven't had crayfish more than one or three times, more than half a century ago. I remember really liking them. I don't remember what they tasted like. I just remember the were yummy in a crustacean sort of way.

 

[caseydog]

I haven't had crayfish more than one or three times, more than half a century ago. I remember really liking them. I don't remember what they tasted like. I just remember the were yummy in a crustacean sort of way.

Oh my, you could get thrown out of Louisiana for saying "crayfish." Dey's crawfish down here, y'all.

CD

 

[Yankee00]

The only frozen crawfish products I buy is frozen meat, to use in things like crawfish etouffee. That frozen tail meat has always tasted good.

If your wife and daughter like shrimp, you might want to buy some frozen crawfish tail meat and use it as you would shrimp.

CD

Thank you for the advice. While I have never attempted to make etouffe, I have utilized crawfish tails in my gumbo. They both seem OK with that. I think the "look" of a whole crawfish is what scares them off, which seems kinda weird to me since they both love whole lobster!

 

[jennyema]

LIVE CRAWFISH???? I have waited so long to get my hands on quality live crawfish. I currently utilize the frozen Riceland Brand as there are no live crawfish in Virginia. I am jealous!

When I was a little girl, my friends and I caught crawdads on Saturday mornings and tried to sell them like a lemonade stand. One crawdad per paper cup.

We had few takers.

You can buy them fresh in Asian supermarkets around here.

 

[GotGarlic]

When I was a little girl, my friends and I caught crawdads on Saturday mornings and tried to sell them like a lemonade stand. One crawdad per paper cup.

We had few takers.

You can buy them fresh in Asian supermarkets around here.

I hadn't thought of that, but the Asian supermarkets here have a lot of live fish. They might have crawfish, too.

 

[medtran49]

Thank you for the advice. While I have never attempted to make etouffe, I have utilized crawfish tails in my gumbo. They both seem OK with that. I think the "look" of a whole crawfish is what scares them off, which seems kinda weird to me since they both love whole lobster!

It might be what you have to do to eat them. DGDs were hesitant about it at first until they got a taste of them and no one would fix them for the girls after they were shown how to fix them a few times. Same with crabs.

BTW, you have to be careful with frozen tails. Read the fine print. We found some once that the label made it look like they came from Breaux Bridge, LA, at a great price. Breaux Bridge is known for crawfish production. Fortunately, I flipped the bag over and read the fine print. The crawfish were from China and were shipped to and packaged in Breaux Bridge...

 

[taxlady]

Oh my, you could get thrown out of Louisiana for saying "crayfish." Dey's crawfish down here, y'all.

CD

Well, I didn't have them in the South. I had crayfish on the beach of Lake Tahoe in the mid 1960s, They were fresh caught out of the lake. My parents made friends with another family and they invited us to join them. The critters were cooked over a campfire on the beach. I have vague memories of attending a "kräftskiva" in Sweden (we were visiting grandparents). kräftskiva means crayfish party. So, that time they were called kräftor (that's the plural of kräfta)

 

[GotGarlic]

Well, I didn't have them in the South. I had crayfish on the beach of Lake Tahoe in the mid 1960s, They were fresh caught out of the lake. My parents made friends with another family and they invited us to join them. The critters were cooked over a campfire on the beach. I have vague memories of attending a "kräftskiva" in Sweden (we were visiting grandparents). kräftskiva means crayfish party. So, that time they were called kräftor (that's the plural of kräfta)

That sounds wonderful.

 

[Yankee00]

It might be what you have to do to eat them. DGDs were hesitant about it at first until they got a taste of them and no one would fix them for the girls after they were shown how to fix them a few times. Same with crabs.

BTW, you have to be careful with frozen tails. Read the fine print. We found some once that the label made it look like they came from Breaux Bridge, LA, at a great price. Breaux Bridge is known for crawfish production. Fortunately, I flipped the bag over and read the fine print. The crawfish were from China and were shipped to and packaged in Breaux Bridge...

It is so funny that you mention reading the label. Here in Central Virginia, I have to order the bulk of my seafood on line, ESPECIALLY crawfish. I used to utilize Cameron's Seafood and they advertised frozen whole crawfish from LA. After I received them, I looked at the back of the package and found out that they actually came from India! I threw the packages out and fortunately got my money refunded.

 

[caseydog]

It is so funny that you mention reading the label. Here in Central Virginia, I have to order the bulk of my seafood on line, ESPECIALLY crawfish. I used to utilize Cameron's Seafood and they advertised frozen whole crawfish from LA. After I received them, I looked at the back of the package and found out that they actually came from India! I threw the packages out and fortunately got my money refunded.

I saw some frozen crawfish tail meat in the supermarket once with a Cajun name. The company was located in Louisiana, but the crawfish meat was from somewhere in Asia.

Most of the shrimp in Houston grocery stores is from Asia, even though Houston is right on the Gulf of Mexico.

You really have to be careful shopping for seafood. At least US law requires country of origin be on all seafood packaging.

CD

 

[Yankee00]

When I was a little girl, my friends and I caught crawdads on Saturday mornings and tried to sell them like a lemonade stand. One crawdad per paper cup.

We had few takers.

You can buy them fresh in Asian supermarkets around here.

Way back in the day, when my father was in the USAF, we had a tiny creek (probably more of a drainage ditch) running behind our military housing and we could catch "crawdads" in this tiny creek. I have no idea if they were edible or not.

 

[caseydog]

Way back in the day, when my father was in the USAF, we had a tiny creek (probably more of a drainage ditch) running behind our military housing and we could catch "crawdads" in this tiny creek. I have no idea if they were edible or not.

When I lived in Port Arthur (SE Texas), during a very heavy rain, crawfish would come up out of the ground in the yard. They left these mud mounds behind, that were lawnmower killers.

CD

 

[GotGarlic]

Way back in the day, when my father was in the USAF, we had a tiny creek (probably more of a drainage ditch) running behind our military housing and we could catch "crawdads" in this tiny creek. I have no idea if they were edible or not.

There was something like that behind a new school that was under construction near one of the neighborhoods where we lived when I was 10 or so. And same - this was in Michigan and I don't know whether they were edible. Now that I think about it, we probably would have eaten them if they were edible; my dad was a hunter and fisherman and spent summers on his grandparents' farm, so he would have known.

 

[taxlady]

Growing up in SoCal, I always heard "crayfish" and "ctawdads" was for big ones. Until this thread, I don't think I had come across the word "crawfish".
Edited for typo.

 

[dragnlaw]

To me "crayfish" were northern and "crawdads" were southern.