Crayfish Rice with Bacon

Filed under Shellfish · Print This Post

Tomatoe, tomatoh. Potatoe, potatoh. Crayfish, crawfish. No matter what you call these small lobster lookalikes, they’re good to go in a big soup pot. And you know what? They’re even better with bacon. They were selling them alive in Chinatown but they were left out in the cold–that made it easy enough to pull their heads from their bodies. I put all the heads in a soup pot to make broth while I chopped up some vegetables for this recipe. Peeling the tails was another story. It’s a lot of work with so little yield; I should have gotten more than two pounds. But in the end, my rice was delicious and it was even better with some barbequed pork.

Ingredients:
2 pounds crayfish, washed
bacon
4 ribs of celery, 2 finely chopped, 2 cut in smaller pieces
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 red onions, 1 finely chopped, 1 halved
3 cups rice
salt, pepper, oil

1. Make crayfish broth. Separate the crayfish heads from the tails. Put the heads in a big soup pot with some water and let it boil. Add the halved onion and the big celery ribs with some salt. Simmer until ready to use. Peel tails and devein. Chop in smaller pieces.
2. In a skillet, render fat off bacon until crisp. Remove to a plate lined with paper towel. When cool enough to handle, finely chop bacon. Set aside.
3. Using some of the bacon fat, sauté garlic and onions. Add crayfish, celery and pepper and sauté until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add rice and 3 cups of the crayfish broth. Cover and cook the rice in medium fire. Check often and add more broth to keep it from drying. When rice is almost done, fluff with a spatula and mix until combined well. Turn off the fire, cover the pot and let the remaining heat finish cooking the rice.

Related post/s:
Crayfish Creamed Corn Soup

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Ushiwakamaru

Filed under Japanese, SoHo · Print This Post

136 West Houston Street off Sullivan
212/228.4181
$150 for three people with six drinks, without tip
♥ ♥

I’m always walking on Houston Street, but I have to admit that I never pay attention to the restaurants on the street. There are a few off Sullivan Street, right before you turn towards Bleecker, but I’ve never been inclined to check them out. We wanted sushi one night after a few after-work drinks in SoHo but Blue Ribbon was, as usual, packed and there was quite a wait at Nagomi. Yama or Tomoe are not good options to me so I was delighted to eat good sushi at Ushi Wakamaru. The uni was fresh and the ankimo creamy. The otoro was still the most expensive on the menu but it was still less than what Gari would charge. They accommodated my requests for salmon skin and shiso leaf makimo before we closed our tab. They didn’t take unfamiliar requests like shiso with pickled carrots and daikon–something Sushiden wouldn’t refuse–but they pretty much met my expectations.

Related post/s:
Nagomi, around the corner
Gari for more expensive sushi
Go to Sushiden for shiso with pickled carrots and daikon

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