Recipe Review

This Crawfish Etouffee Recipe from ‘The Rapping Chef’ Just May Be His Best (and Catchiest) One Yet

published Feb 2, 2022
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Credit: Jenny Huang

When was the last time your recipes were delivered via an ultra catchy song? If you follow @rappingchef on Instagram, probably pretty recently. If you don’t yet follow The Rapping Chef on IG (or his other alias, @_mrpyrex on TikTok), you’re going to want to double tap that profile ASAP. Mr. Pyrex, a personal chef and talented rapper, delivers his recipes via video overlaid with an original rap, and it’s safe to say that they are all certified bangers.

It’s his latest recipe, however, that just may take the cake for his most cravable yet. It’s a Crawfish Étouffée, made from scratch, and it looks good. The video begins with a properly large pat of butter, which he mixes with flour to make a roux. As with all of the recipe vids on his page, there’s an element of education combined with the entertainment. “You just keep on stirring until it’s this color,” Mr. Pyrex croons in his trademark smooth voice.

Bell peppers, onion, and celery get added to the pot, along with aromatics, and I’ve got to say: “I throw some scallion in it,” is a much better turn of phrase than the boring old, “Add minced scallions.” Seafood stock goes in, then salt. (“I season until my ancestors tell me stop,” Mr. Pyrex sings, and I am definitely not going to argue with that wisdom.) Tomato paste and a 45-minute simmer will get you to the final step: crawfish. After a quick simmer, you can serve the étouffée with rice and garlic bread.

I highly recommend making this — I’m going to put the ingredients on my grocery list this weekend — but even if you’re not up for a cooking project, you should definitely check out his profile. His followers (839k on TikTok and 26.4k on Insta) can’t get enough of his sweetly confident style and perfect execution of classic recipes, like Steak and Eggs. Even famous TV chefs are taking notice; Gordon Ramsay is a fan.

Once you’ve been bitten by the Rapping Chef bug, head over to his website and order some merch. The “Rapcipes” shirt is pretty brilliant. I will warn you, though: It is far too easy to go down a rabbit hole of watching his backlog of videos. Happily, Mr. Pyrex fans will soon have more ways to consume his content: In a recipe for Lobster Mac & Cheese, he teased a recipe album, that could be coming as early as this summer.