You Can Enjoy The Entire Crawfish, Except This One Part

Eating crawfish like a pro involves cracking the tail, peeling back the meat, eating the head, and letting everything melt on your tongue. And usually, there's only one thing left on the plate: the shells. Now, if you ask the Southerners, they'd tell you that every part of this crustacean is edible, and you should go ahead and eat the shells because they have a nice crunch. But in reality, you're better off not eating the shells. Put simply, your digestive system literally can't handle what crawfish exoskeletons are made of.

Crawfish shells are made of chitin, a material so tough our bodies literally can't process it. This is because chitin is insoluble and requires a special enzyme called chitinase to break it down. Animals that regularly eat crustaceans produce plenty of this enzyme. We don't, and, as such, chitin can be quite tough on our stomachs.

Another problem is that chitin is really hard, and our jaw isn't really evolved to break through a crustacean exoskeleton. Rigid fragments of crawfish shell don't really belong in our throat or stomach, either. They're serious choking hazards that aren't worth it for the little to no flavor or the gravelly texture. So while everything about crawfish is worth the mess, the shell isn't. You're much better off just skipping it.

While eating crawfish shells is a bad idea, the trash can shouldn't be their final destination after the crawfish boil has wrapped up. Those translucent, brittle pieces hold pure, concentrated crawfish essence, which is the perfect foundation for a stock.

Just put all of the leftover shells in a pot, then add water, followed by onions, garlic, and whatever additional aromatics you've got lying around. Cook it low and slow, and — voilà: You've got a silky and briny liquid that tastes nothing like boiled crawfish water. Instead, you'll have a rich broth that tastes like the ocean decided to visit your stovetop.

There's no shortage of good uses for this stock. Deepen rice dishes, brighten soups like Long Island-style seafood chowder with roasted red pepper, and build thick sauces that cling to vegetables and proteins. Crawfish shells keep indefinitely in your freezer — weeks, months, however long it takes to gather enough for a batch. So while the shells might not be the best snacks, they're far from trash.