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Few recipes concentrate the flavors of the main ingredient better than a French crawfish bisque. This is no mere soup or stew, it is a full-on barrage of flavor that makes everyone stop talking at the table: You just want to savor this soup in silence.
Such an experience has its price, however. This is not an easy recipe, nor is it quick. Save this bisque for weekends, holidays, date night or other special occasions. But it is more than worth the effort to transform the humble crawfish into one of the highlights of French haute cuisine.
A quick word on nomenclature. Here in America, most people know this dish as crawfish bisque, for the Louisiana version. You call the same crustacean a crayfish in the North, and in the West it often becomes a crawdad. Whatever word you use, this is an amazing soup.
In a roundabout way, I owe much of the technique behind this recipe to Julia Child, whose lobster bisque recipe in her Mastering the Art of French Cooking is a masterpiece. I say this because I independently decided to make two of the key components to her bisque — crayfish butter and crayfish broth — without even knowing about her recipe.
That’s right: To get the full effect here you do need to make your own broth and butter from the shells of the crawfish.
The butter, especially, is a little persnickety, but it adds so much flavor to a crawfish bisque that you will be sad if you don’t make it. The reason crayfish butter is so good is because a great deal of the flavor in lobsters, crabs, shrimps and crayfish is fat soluble, not water soluble. So what you can’t extract by making broth you get by making the butter. Ah, those crafty French…
I used crawfish because I live 3,000 miles from New England, where the best lobsters live. And yes, I know I could use California spiny lobsters, but there’s something about them that doesn’t seem right for a bisque. It’s not that spiny lobsters are bad per se, it’s that I always find myself comparing them to Maine lobsters, and the spinies simply don’t cut it.
Dungeness crab or blue crab are excellent substitutes. At the time, however, I happened to have a bunch of frozen crayfish lying around, leftover from an epic crawdad-hunting trip I took with my friend Mark the previous summer. I knew I wanted to make bisque even then, so I made the crayfish butter and broth and froze it.
This can be a great time-saving measure when making crawfish bisque. The broth and butter can be made well ahead, and frozen for months before you make the soup. Once you have them in hand, the bisque comes together in less than 30 minutes.
Incidentally, a bisque is traditionally defined as a smooth soup that hinges on the shells of shellfish. My cream of crab soup recipe is another example of a bisque. Cream is not required in a bisque, but many cooks add it.
When you finally get there, the end result is pure luxury. You sit there looking at a soup so rich with crayfish, crabs or lobsters that the whole thing is a warming, welcoming orange. The texture of the bisque is velvet, and you taste the seemingly impossible combination of silky cream, buttery crayfish and tangy hot sauce.
Yes, hot sauce. A couple splashes is all you need to add a touch of acidity and heat to the bisque.
The key for me, however, is the crawfish meat in the bisque itself, which gives you something to aim for when you are eating this with a spoon. Not every bisque includes this, but I think it really needs it, especially if you are serving this as a main course.
Crawfish bisque is a classic for a reason. You’ll see when you make it.
Crawfish Bisque
Ingredients
CRAWFISH BUTTER
- 1/4 pound cooked crawfish heads and shells from the tails
- 1/2 pound unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon brandy
CRAWFISH BROTH
- 3 to 4 pounds crawfish heads and shells from tails
- 1/4 cup safflower, grapeseed or other neutral oil
- 1 fennel bulb, chopped with fronds
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 ounce dried matsutake mushrooms (optional)
- 1 6- ounce can tomato paste
- 1 cup dry vermouth
- 5 bay leaves
BISQUE
- 6 tablespoons crawfish butter, divided (see above)
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons vermouth or brandy
- 5 cups crayfish broth (see above)
- 1/3 cup rice
- 1 pound crawfish meat
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream, or to taste
- Salt to taste
- Chopped dill, parsley or chives for garnish
Instructions
BUTTER
- To make the crawfish butter, smash the shells to a pulp. This can be done in a mortar and pestle, or in a strong blender or food processor -- or with a mallet in a bowl. You really want to mash everything well so you get more flavor from the shells.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the shells to it. Cover and put into a 170°F oven and let this cook for 90 minutes, stirring now and again. Strain the butter through a fine-meshed sieve that has a paper towel set inside it; this filters all the debris out.
- Pour into a container and let it cool. TIP: For long storage, let the butter solidify and pop it out of the container, leaving behind the gellified liquid at the bottom of the container. Leaving this in contact with the butter over time can make it got rancid.
BROTH
- To make the broth, heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the crawfish shells and smash them to bits with a potato masher. Crush and stir them as they cook until they are all in pieces. Let this cook for a few minutes, then mix in the fennel, carrot and onion. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Mix in the garlic, dried mushrooms and tomato paste. Turn the heat as high as it will go and stir-fry this for 2 minutes.
- Add the vermouth and stir well. Let this boil for 1 minute, then add enough cool water to cover the shells by 1 inch. Add the bay leaves and let this simmer gently for 90 minutes to 2 hours. Do not let it boil.
- Strain the broth by pouring it through a fine-meshed sieve with a paper towel set inside. Set aside or chill quickly and store.
BISQUE
- Heat 2 tablespoons crawfish butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Saute the onion until soft and translucent. Do not let it brown. Pour in the vermouth or brandy and let this boil for a minute.
- Add the rice and crawfish broth and bring it to a gentle simmer. Simmer until the rice is soft, about 25 minutes. Add salt to taste.
- Pour the soup into a blender along with 1/4 pound of crayfish meat. Puree, in batches if you need to.
- Wipe out the soup pot and return the pureed soup to it. Heat the bisque over medium-low heat just to the steaming point. Add the rest of the crawfish meat and heat for 2-3 minutes. Mix in the heavy cream, then stir in the remaining crayfish butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Serve at once, garnished with the herbs.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this with the shells of freshly caught West Coast crayfish. My mouth still waters when I think of it. Pure luxury. It costed some love and time and tender loving care, bit so worth it
Made this recipe this past weekend. Goodness. Hank, marry me. Seriously.
Hank,
This recipe looks fantastic. I just had a crawfish boil and am planning to use the leftovers to make this recipe. My concern is that the leftovers I have are from a boil with lots of cajun seasonings. I assume the crawfish you used were simply boiled. Do you think the recipe will turn out well making stock/butter from crawfish that were boiled in cajun seasoning? I think it is probably worth a try, even though it will turn out much spicier.
I know this is an old page and you are probably not be reading this anymore. But I live in the Midwest and it is now November. I made some crayfish traps and put them out in a very clean spring fed small pond not having any expectations of catching anything. Much to my surprise, I caught probably 10 lbs of crayfish! I cleaned them with salt and boiled them whole and now have a freezer full of them. Ok, I thought, what now? I came by your recipe and was surprised how upscale it looked. OK, not knowing if I was going to like crayfish and not having a half pound of butter, I combined the broth and butter portions of the recipe. I simmered the shells in the butter along with some added organic coconut oil I had on hand. I then no longer have fennel in the garden but I make a Pernod knockoff with a wild herb called sweetroot. As it’s name implies, the flavor is a little sweet and has that anise/ licorice flavor as well. Anyway, added my liquor, and simmered for another 1/2 hour. Followed the rest of bisque recipe and dug in. Oh my goodness, OH__ MY__ GOODNESS! One of the best things I have ever eaten! In fact, if I have eaten something better, I don’t remember what that was. Incredible! The traps are back in the pond and this will be on the Thanksgiving table (we host 30+ each year) along with my other wild favorites, homemade autumn berry soda (the kids need something to drink while we have wine) and a Paw Paw cheesecake. Thank you for the recipe and thank you for the site! PS- I started my understanding of my local environment with walks through the woods about 10 years ago. Now I have made useful things from at least 30 plants and animals. Each season brings something else to look forward to. I know feel part of the woods and a part of nature rather than someone just walking through it. I wonder if you feel the same way?
This Crayfish Bisque looks very flavorful. The color is really bursting out flavors! I will surely try this one!
Jenifer: LOL. Yeah, it’s definitely a regional thing. But since this is a European recipe, I went with crayfish. But yes, I am a Yankee. 😉
Ack! It’s Crawfish, not crayfish……Yankees 😛
Made this tonight. Yummy yummy!
Thanks,Hank.I’ll have to use lobster for this fine recipe.We don’t have crayfish here in Nova Scotia.lol I might try this with tiger shrimp,I haven’t decided yet.It will be delicious in any event.
I definitely need to try this! I’m in Alabama now, I need to get down to the Gulf for some good shrimp.
What a lovely bisque! Crawfish season is just beginning in south Louisiana, though we’re lucky to get frozen year round. I make a roux-based Louisiana style bisque studded with boulettes or stuffed crawfish heads: https://bouillie.us/2010/12/24/christmas-crawfish-bisque/
Sure wish I had a bowl of your bisque right now.
Will: Absolutely.
Jamie: Not sure. I’ve never trapped them in winter. But I bet you could in the Sacramento Delta. The Sierra is all frozen over.
This is one of those moments that I wish they had smellavision. I love a good bisque and I love crayfish. My New Years resolution was to catch and eat more crayfish this year and I know what I am starting with. Do you know if its possible to trap them in the winter? I may not be able to wait until spring.
This looks wonderful. Must remember to return to it in warmer weather as on my wish list for this year is a camping trip to a spot on the River Windrush (near the Cotswolds where I live)where I’ve heard the wild swimming is great but there are plenty of crayfish to catch too. Thanks for spurring me on with your lovely recipe.
Oh my goodness, this bisque is a “must make” recipe for sure. Now I feel terrible that I’ve been throwing away crawdad shells for year. Love all the components and that they can be made separately and ahead of time!
Shirley
So will the recipe work similarly with lobster shells if I’ve got a bunch on hand? Any potential differences or pitfalls if I’m using lobster shells? We had lobster New Year’s Eve and I froze everyone’s shells and took them home with me in my stockpot. They’ve been sitting in my chest freezer since.