What is a "crawdad"?

Question

Im in Australia, and i need to know what a crawdad is?, I think we have something similar, its called a yabby, and we use them for fishing bait, plus they are yummy to eat on sandwiches with salt & pepper (yummy)

Answer 1

About Crawdad:
Crayfish, also called crawfish or crawdad, are closely related to the lobster. More than half of the more than 500 species occur in North America, particularly Kentucky (Mammoth Cave) and Louisiana in the Mississippi basin. Crayfish also live in Europe, New Zealand, East Asia and throughout the world, including the Tristan da Cunha Islands. Nearly all live in freshwater, although a few survive in salt water. Crayfish are characterised by a joined head and thorax, or midsection, and a segmented body, which is sandy yellow, green, or dark brown in colour. The head has a sharp snout, and the eyes are on movable stalks. Crayfish are usually about 7.5 cm (3 inches) long.

Crayfish are very popular in French cooking where they’re called écrevisses. In the US, harvest comes from the waters of the Mississippi basin, and many Louisianans call their state the "crawfish capital of the world." Crayfish can be prepared in most manners appropriate for lobster and, like lobster, turn bright red when cooked. They're usually eaten with the fingers, and the sweet, succulent meat must be picked or sucked out of the tiny shells.

Cooking Crawdad:
With a succulent flavor and sweet white meat, crawdads are a favorite ingredient of many southern-style dishes. In Louisiana you can eat crawfish pie, crawfish etouffee, crawfish cornbread, crawfish stew, crawfish bisque, fried crawfish, crawfish jambalaya and crawfish cardinale. In fact, many seafood recipes containing crab, shrimp or lobster can be use crawdads as a substitute.
If you decide to enjoy your fresh catch right then and there, your best bet is to boil up a pot of fresh water on a camp stove. You can season your water like the Louisiana Acadians do by adding salt, black pepper and cayenne (red pepper). You can boil the live crawdads whole or you can just cook their tails and the larger claws. They are ready for eating when they turn red -- or about five minutes. If you are going to transport your catch after boiling them, cook the entire crawdad so that you can save the fat from the crawdad heads for use in crawfish bisque or stew.

Some crawdad connoisseurs add other ingredients to the pot, including seafood boil, onion, garlic, cilantro and jalapenos. Once these little lobsters are cooked, you just crack the shells and remove the meat -- dip 'em in butter or just eat 'em plain. To add to the outdoor cooking extravaganza, you might also want to boil up or grill such vegetables as corn on the cob and potatoes -- a hearty lunch to sate that appetite before you head out to catch more of the crustaceans. So, as the Cajuns would say, "Laissez les bons temps rouler" - "Let the good times roll."

Answer 2

They are a freshwater lobster only very small the size of a large shrimp. People in Louisiana serve them in boils with potatoes, onions, corn, crab, clams, spicy sausage and spices in a large pot and then spill the contents on newspaper and have a feast.

Stove-Top Crawfish Boil
2 bags crab boil (such as Old Bay seasoning)
1 tablespoon liquid crab boil (available from specialty food stores)
3 lemons, halved
1 pound small red bliss potatoes
4 garlic bulbs, halved horizontally
2 onions, quartered
3 pounds live crawfish (seasonally available in some places -- there is no substitute)
12 ounces link Andouille sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 ears corn, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 pound button mushrooms
Salt and cayenne

In a very large pot heat 3 gallons of water until nearly boiling. Add dry and liquid crab boil, squeeze in lemons, then throw in potatoes, garlic and onions. Boil 10 minutes. Add everything else. Cover and boil 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Uncover, sprinkle in 1/4 cup salt and 1 tablespoon cayenne, stir it up, cover again and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain off liquid. Line table with newspaper and dig in.

Answer 3

Crayfish, often referred to as crawfish or crawdad and less often called mudbug, freshwater lobster, or tiny creek lobster.

What part of Australia? I have a friend who met a guy on the Internet, married him and moved to Wollongong, AUS. She says that the locals hate Americans. She gets homesick.

Answer 4

Here's a great definition to the word itself :

http://www.wordwizard.com/ch_forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19174

I love crawdaddies,crayfish,yabbies, whatever name you wish to call them. I used to order them in a Cajun resteraunt in Kansas City, Missouri and they served something like 30 of them on a huge platter with small ears of corn on the cob as a side.
Oh man they were yummy!

Answer 5

Crawdads are also known as crayfish. they look like little lobsters with no claws. I've never heard of anyone eating them though.

Answer 6

Crawdaddys is what us Southerners (USA) call "Crayfish". They're sort of a fresh-water mini-lobster and are VERY good eatin'. Used a lot in Cajun cooking, often fried up like "popcorn shrimp".

Answer 7

If you don't know what a crawdad is, you have to take the "hillbilly" out of your name. :)

Answer 8

I can not say a word everyone was spoken in all crayfish

Answer 9

i live on the border of texas and louisana and crawfish is best boiled. my mouth is watering already.