A Cajun specialty, étouffée is a succulent, tangy, tomato sauce usually made with crawfish or shrimp. The word étouffée comes from the French étouffer (to smother), and that’s it exactly: rich and tender crawfish tails smothered in a spicy blanket of flavorful sauce. “First, you make a roux” is the start of many Creole and Cajun recipes (it’s also the title of a popular cookbook from Louisiana published by the Lafayette Museum in the early 1960s). Roux is a cooked mixture of fat (butter) and starch (flour) used to thicken many sauces in classic French cooking. A Creole roux is not the classic French butter-flour mixture, but sometimes combines flour with an oil like peanut oil that can hold a high temperature. Unlike a French roux, which can be white to pale golden, Creole and Cajun roux are typically, at the very least, the color of peanut butter and progress to deep, dark brown. This process can take 45 minutes or so of constant stirring. It is dangerous stuff. If any splatters on you, it will be perfectly clear why this fiery, sticky combination of oil and flour is often referred to as “Cajun napalm”!
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour, stirring slowly and constantly, and cook to a medium-brown roux, about 30 minutes.
Step 2
Add the onion, celery, and bell pepper and cook, stirring constantly, until the vegetables are wilted and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Add the parsley and green onion tops and stir to combine. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 45 to 60 seconds. Add the fish stock and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat.
Step 3
Decrease the heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced, about 20 minutes. Add the crawfish and stir to combine. Cook until heated through, 5 to 7 minutes. Season with hot sauce. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve with rice pilaf.
