Recipes / Fish
Braaied crayfish with garlic and lemon butter
Whole West Coast crayfish or rock lobster tails split in half, basted with garlic, lemon and parsley butter, and braaied shell side down over medium coals.
- Prep
- 20 min
- On the fire
- 10 min
- Serves
- 4
- Done at
- 145°F (63°C)
Ingredients
Method
Cooking on gas?
- Preheat with the burners on high and the lid closed for 10 minutes, then turn them down to medium so the lid thermometer settles at 175 to 200°C (350 to 400°F). Brush the grates clean and oil them.
- Cook with the lid open and use the recipe times as a guide.
- Keep one burner off or on low as a cooler zone. If fat flares up, move the food there. Never use water on a gas grill flare-up.
- For a smoky taste, put a handful of wood chips in a smoker box, or a foil parcel pierced with a few holes, over a lit burner while the grill preheats.
- Melt the butter in a small pot over low heat. Add the garlic and lemon zest and cook for 1 minute without browning. Take it off the heat and stir in the lemon juice, chilli and parsley.
- Split each crayfish or tail in half lengthways with a heavy knife. Pull out the dark vein that runs down the tail, rinse and pat dry.
- Season the cut sides and brush them generously with the garlic butter.
- Lay the halves shell side down on the grid over medium coals. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, brushing with more butter, until the flesh turns white.
- Turn the halves flesh side down for 1 to 2 minutes to pick up a little colour. Do not leave them longer or they dry out.
- Serve at once with the rest of the warm butter and lemon wedges.
Done when: the flesh is opaque white all the way through, the shell is bright orange-red, and a thermometer in the thickest part of the tail reads 63°C (145°F).
Tips
- The shell protects the meat. Do most of the cooking shell side down and only finish briefly on the flesh.
- Keep the butter warm next to the fire so it does not set before you serve.
- In South Africa, buy crayfish only from licensed sellers and in season. Frozen rock lobster tails work in the US.
Crayfish, or kreef, is the West Coast rock lobster, and braaiing it on the beach in the open season is a Cape tradition. It needs very little: hot butter, garlic, lemon and a few minutes over the coals. Overcooking is the only real mistake. For more on seafood over fire, see braaiing fish and the garlic butter prawns.
Source
Adapted from Crayfish on the braai with flavour-spiked butters at Food & Home and Mexican Inspired Crayfish beach braai at MegaMaster.