Ground Dried Crayfish

Two years from production, with the best-by date printed on the jar. Keep it in a cool, dry cupboard and reseal after each use — no refrigeration needed. Ground crayfish is a dried ingredient, so moisture is the only thing that shortens its life. If the jar has been open a long time, the aroma tells you more than the date does: it should still smell deeply savory.

Nothing. The ingredient statement is one line: Crayfish (Shrimp). No salt, no preservatives, no anti-caking agents, no fillers. Every batch is sifted to remove grit and shell fragments before it is packed. It does contain crustacean shellfish, so the allergen statement reads CONTAINS: CRUSTACEAN SHELLFISH (SHRIMP).

The jar contains one ingredient — dried crayfish — with no wheat, barley or rye, and nothing added. We have not put it through third-party gluten-free or halal certification, so we describe what is in it rather than claiming a certification we do not hold. If you need certified product for a commercial kitchen, email info@mexiafrique.com and we will tell you exactly where we stand.

At one tablespoon per serving, the 2.75 oz jar gives about 13 servings and the 5 oz jar about 23. That is arithmetic from the net weight, not an estimate of how many pots you will cook — how far a jar goes depends entirely on how generous you are with it. Most people find the small jar right for occasional cooking and the large one right for a household that makes soup most weeks.

It comes from Igbokoda in Ondo State, sourced whole and dried, then air-freighted to the United States and ground in small batches in Oregon. It is the same ingredient, from the same coast, handled by a family that cooks with it. The one difference you may notice is texture: we sift every batch, so there is less grit and fewer shell fragments than a market scoop usually has.

Start with one to two tablespoons for a pot of soup or stew, added early so the flavor has time to open up. Taste before adding more. Because it is ground rather than whole, it disperses further than you may expect from the same weight of whole crayfish — if you are used to cooking with whole, begin at the lower end.

Neither. It is savory — the deep background note cooks call umami — and it carries no heat at all, so it will not change how mild or hot your dish is. It is not fishy in the way dried fish can be: the flavor is closer to concentrated shellfish stock than to anything oceanic. In a finished pot you notice depth rather than crayfish.

Yes, and this is where our two kitchens meet. Ground dried crayfish and camarón seco are the same tradition on two coasts — small dried shrimp used to build a savory base. Use it anywhere a recipe calls for ground dried shrimp: caldo de camarón, salsa de camarón seco, the batter for tortitas. Because ours is already ground, skip the grinding step and add it straight in.

On Amazon, where both jar sizes are listed and fulfilled. Delivery speed and shipping cost are whatever your Amazon account offers, including Prime if you have it. We are also listed on Amazon Canada, Mexico and Brazil where those listings are live — the links on each product page take you to the right marketplace.