A crawfish roll is decadent, the kind of sandwich that earns audibly voiced approval. Make these during Carnival season and put them out for your friends. What makes a crawfish roll so special is knowing the amount of work that went into peeling the crawfish. To give someone a roll slathered in spicy mayonnaise and filled with buttery crawfish is a bit extravagant and a celebration unto itself. If you’re feeling extra, top this roll off with caviar.
Crawfish Rolls
Author: Excerpted from Bayou by Melissa Martin (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2024. Photographs by Denny Culbert.
Serves 6
Ingredients
- ½ pound (225 g) peeled boiled crawfish tails (from about 3 pounds/1.4 kg of crawfish; see page 27 of Bayou)
- 2 ounces (60 ml) unsalted butter, melted
- Juice of 1 small lemon wedge
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Cracked black pepper
- Cayenne pepper
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) homemade mayonnaise (page 338 of Bayou)
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce, preferably Original Louisiana Hot Sauce
- 6 soft rolls, such as split-top hot dog buns
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, gently mix together the crawfish, melted butter, and a small squeeze of lemon juice. Taste the crawfish and season with the salt, a crack of black pepper, and a touch of cayenne.
- In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise and hot sauce.
- Toast the rolls. Butter the rolls with the butter from the bottom of the crawfish bowl. Then spread the spicy mayonnaise in the rolls. Fill the rolls with the crawfish and garnish each with a bit of the green onion.
