CRAYFISH PARTY

Many people who haven't grown up with the Swedish crayfish party tradition find crayfish served in the shell difficult to deal with. You can still have a crayfish party! Here is a variety of easy crayfish recipes, using already peeled and deveined crayfish tails. You can buy these frozen and already cooked. All you need to do is thaw them.

In addition, serve boiled small potatoes with dill, a cucumber salad,  pumpernickel and hardtack bread,  Scandinavian cheeses and butter, plus other dishes and beverages of your choice. Aquavit and beer is traditionally served with crayfish, but a white wine is also good.

Crayfish Aspic

2 envelopes (2 tbs) unflavored gelatin

juice of 1 half lemon

1/3 cup sugar

Fresh dill

10 to 12 oz of cooked crayfish tails

2 3/4 cups water

Sprinkle gelatin on one cup of the water to soften. Mix in sugar. Heat the rest of the water to boiling and add, stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved. Add lemon juice. Pour some gelatin in the bottom of a bowl. When almost set, arrange some crayfish tails, with the backs downwards, on it. Add some dill sprigs. Continue layering this way. Let the gelatin partly set between each layer;otherwise all the crayfish will sink to the bottom of the mold; but don't let it set completely before adding next layer; this may cause the layers to separate when unmolding. Refrigerate overnight and unmold just before serving.

Crayfish with Rice and Teriyaki sauce

Sauce

3/4 cup teryiaki sauce

2 tsp chopped candied ginger

juice of one orange

2 tbsp cornstarch

3/4 tsp dry mustard

1/4 cup honey

Rice

2 cups water

1 cup rice

2-3 green onions, chopped

2 tbs butter

1 1/2 lbs boiled crayfish tails

Variation: Serve sauce as dip for crayfish tails on toothpicks.

Crayfish Salad

2 cups boiled crayfish meat

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup peas

2 tbs chopped dill pickles

2 hardboiled eggs, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

Dill weed

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup mayonnaise

Juice of half a lemon

1 tsp sugar (optional)

Combine crayfish meat, celery, peas, pickles, onions, dill weed and eggs. Mix together the mayonnaise, lemon juice and worcestershire sauce. Taste, and if you find it too sour, add sugar. Combine with the other ingredients.

Crayfish Soup

1 lb cooked crayfish meat

1 chicken bouillon cub

1 cup water

1 medium chopped onion

1 quart milk

1 cup butter

Chopped dillweed

3 tb flour

Crayfish Dips or Spreads

Black Lumpfish Caviar Spread

1/2 pint sour cream

1 jar black lumpfish caviar

1-2 teaspoons chopped chives

Juice of half a lemon

Approximately 1 tsp sugar

Mix caviar, chives and lemon. Add sugar to taste.

Caviar and Dill Spread

1/2 pint sour cream

1/2 tube of caviar with dill

Mix caviar and sour cream well.

Mild guacamole is also very good with crayfish. Serve the mixes as dips for crayfish on toothpicks, or simply as accompaniments. They can also be spread on crackers or sandwiches and garnished with crayfish tails and parsley or dill. The Teriyaki Sauce in the Crayfish with Rice recipe above can also be used as a dipping sauce.

We have also collected some online sources for already cooked crayfish dishes that you can order online and add to your crayfish smörgåsbord. These include unshelled cooked crayfish, crayfish pies, bisque and more. Click here to take a look.

RECIPE LINKS

These links include traditional Swedish recipes, as well as some Cajun crayfish recipes.

English

Swedish

Kräftor: Crawfish, Swedish Style

Ten crayfish recipes

Crayfish soup

Koka Kräftor

Svenska Kräftor

Kräft- och äppelterrin

Kräftsallad med ost

Crayfish History and Traditions

Recipe Index