In Nigerian and West African cooking, crayfish means small shrimp that have been smoke-dried or sun-dried, then usually ground to a powder and stirred into soups, stews and moi moi for a deep, savoury taste. It isn't true crayfish at all. The main species is a small estuarine prawn, Nematopalaemon hastatus.
If you've ever followed a Nigerian recipe abroad and come home with a bag of whole freshwater crayfish, you're not alone. The name trips people up all the time. It's a tiny coastal prawn, smoked or sun-dried, and once you know that, the shopping gets easy.
What is crayfish in African cooking?
West African crayfish is dried shrimp. Elsewhere in the world, crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, the same group that holds lobsters. Even the word moves around: in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, "crayfish" or "cray" usually means a saltwater spiny lobster. So when a Nigerian recipe says crayfish, it means something else again.
A 2017 Nigerian study of the shrimp's nutrition refers plainly to Nematopalaemon hastatus shrimps (crayfish). A cookery reference on the product lists three species in the trade: that estuarine prawn, a companion shrimp called Exhippolysmata hastatoides and the African river prawn, Macrobrachium vollenhovenii. It also says plainly that West African crayfish are not closely related to North American crayfish.
The estuarine prawn is tiny. An FAO working paper on prawn farming in Nigeria gives its maximum size as 75 mm, notes that it breeds all year round, and describes the taste as excellent.
How crayfish is dried and sold
Crayfish starts as a coastal catch. In Ondo State, researchers picked the fishing towns of Ayetoro and Bijimi for a study because of the predominance of white shrimp processing using smoking method there. The same paper explains that white shrimps are mostly sold dried in Nigeria, then milled and used to flavour food, while in many European countries they're eaten fresh. Of the 40 shoppers they surveyed, 80% preferred their shrimp dried.
Some crayfish is smoked and some is simply sun-dried, which is why you'll see recipes ask for both "dried crayfish" and "dried shrimp". The smoke matters. One North American cookery writer said West African crayfish smelled a lot like Japanese shaved bonito (katsuobushi) and tasted similar, only stronger. If a friend has never tasted it, that comparison is a good place to start.
How to cook with ground crayfish
Ground crayfish works like a seasoning and a stock at the same time. When to add it depends on the dish. In our ogbono soup, it's stirred in with Cameroon pepper before the fish and meat, and everything cooks together for about five minutes. In nsala soup, it goes in near the very end with the utazi leaves for a two-minute boil. For moi moi, it's blended straight into the beans with the peppers and onions.
Shoppers in that Ondo State survey said they liked dried shrimp most in stew, soup, vegetables and moi moi, which matches what most Nigerian kitchens do. Because crayfish brings its own savoury depth, taste your pot before you add salt or stock cubes.
Measure carefully, because whole and ground crayfish are very different by the cup. A cup of whole Nigerian crayfish weighs about 31 grams, and a cup of ground crayfish about 55 grams, so a cup of ground holds nearly twice as much as a cup of whole. So if a recipe says ground crayfish, measure it ground, not whole.
Recipes that use crayfish
Crayfish turns up in nearly 60 of our recipes. Beyond the ones below, you'll find it in egusi soup, okro soup, plantain porridge and the Cameroonian ndole, where our recipe calls it majanga.
Ogbono soup
Two tablespoons of ground crayfish give the draw soup its savoury base. Make it with our ogbono soup recipe.
Moi moi (moin moin)
Five tablespoons of ground crayfish are blended into the bean batter, which is where much of moi moi's flavour comes from. Try our moi moi recipe.
Igbo yam porridge
Half a cup of ground crayfish goes in with the palm oil and ogiri, so this is a dish where you really taste it. See our Igbo yam porridge recipe.
Nsala soup (white soup)
Nsala uses a full cup of ground crayfish, which is a lot, and you'll taste it, though that pot feeds twelve. Cook it with our nsala soup recipe.
Gbegiri soup (beans soup)
The Yoruba bean soup takes two tablespoons of ground crayfish. Get the method in our gbegiri soup recipe.
Is crayfish healthy?
Crayfish brings some protein, but you use it by the spoonful, so its real job in the pot is flavour. Because it's shellfish, leave it out for anyone with a shellfish allergy.
How to store crayfish
Keep crayfish very dry. One cookery reference advises a tightly sealed container in a dark place and suggests it should last about a year. Shoppers in the Ondo State survey were more cautious: in that small survey, 45% said dried shrimp kept for less than 30 days. Half of them stored it in plastic containers. Keep it away from steam and damp, check that it smells fresh and smoky rather than musty, and throw it out if you see mould.
Crayfish questions
Is Nigerian crayfish the same as crayfish?
No. Nigerian crayfish is dried or smoked shrimp. True crayfish are freshwater relatives of lobsters, a different animal altogether.
Is crayfish a shrimp?
Yes. The main species sold as crayfish in Nigeria, Nematopalaemon hastatus, is a small estuarine prawn.
What can I use instead of crayfish?
Dried shrimp is the closest swap, and our cassava leaf soup lists ground crayfish or dried shrimp as either-or. Some cooks use smoked fish instead.
Should I buy crayfish whole or ground?
Whole crayfish keeps its aroma longer, and you can grind small batches as you need them. Ground crayfish is quicker. Either works, as long as you measure the way the recipe says.
