Crawfish Lyulya Kebabs

by Florian
Armenian Cuisine - Crawfish Lyulya-Kebabs

Here’s the second dish in my trilogy of Lake Sevan’s Gifts (the Trout Kutap was my first)! Lyulya kebabs are originally an Azerbaijani dish consisting of a mixture of ground lamb cooked on a skewer. They’re so popular that they spread far beyond the borders of Azerbaijan, and variations are being offered, with other main ingredients such as potato or crawfish.

I actually had crawfish lyulya kebabs at a restaurant on Lake Sevan, but the mixture used way too much egg and barely tasted of crawfish. By contrast, my version is almost 100% critters, and their flavor is highlighted by the shallots and piment d’espelette. Make sure you buy crawfish tails that don’t come from China, as they hardly have any taste — not to mention that I don’t see the point of getting from the other end of the world something that lives in almost any river near you! You don’t have to spend your weekend turning rocks in a nearby stream, either — you’ll find plenty of online stores shipping the goods straight from Louisiana. Or if you live in New York, you can go to The Lobster Place.

Armenian Cuisine - Crawfish Lyulya-Kebabs

This recipe calls for transglutaminase to bind the mixture, but it’s not absolutely necessary. If you substitute an equal amount of flour, the worst that can happen is that your kebabs will break more easily during cooking. Speaking of cooking: a real lyulya kebab should be grilled on a mangal. As it’s been raining every other day since April around here, I took the liberty of using a cast-iron grill instead.

I serve these kebabs with sour cream and plain lavash (top picture) or zhingalov khats (bottom). Some grilled vegetables wouldn’t hurt either!

Armenian Cuisine - Crawfish Lyulya-Kebabs

Crawfish lyulya kebabs
Yields 4 servings

3/4 oz shallot, small dice
1 oz butter
1/2 oz bread, crust removed, small dice
8 oz crawfish tails
1 tsp transglutaminase
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp piment d’espelette
2 tsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

  • In a small saucepan over medium heat, sauté the shallots in half of the butter until soft, and reserve. Sauté the bread in the other half of the butter until golden brown, and reserve, as well.
  • Coarsely chop the crawfish. Process half of the chopped crawfish with the transglutaminase and olive oil in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in the rest of the chopped crawfish. Add the shallots and bread, and season with salt, pepper, piment d’espelette and parsley. Shape the mixture into 4 sausages, about 5 1/2″ x 1 1/4″ x 3/4″ (approximately, this is not a math test!). Roll in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
  • Heat a cast-iron grill over medium-high heat. Brush with a little bit of olive oil, and cook the unwrapped kebabs on both sides until you get a nice cross-hatch pattern. All of the ingredients are already cooked, so you just need to get them hot. Serve immediately.

Armenian Cuisine - Crawfish Lyulya-Kebabs

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11 comments

frugalfeeding October 22, 2011 - 04:54

This looks incredible! It sounds seriously incredible!

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A October 22, 2011 - 09:58

This is one of my favorite things that Florian has ever done. I could eat a million of them.
– Alysa, Florian’s partner 😀

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BlondeBomber October 24, 2011 - 12:23

These look insanely good! I am used to the traditional lamb or beef kebab, but I would gladly nibble on this.

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Ani June 16, 2012 - 09:47

You are probably judging by the name. During Ottoman Empire all names of Armenian dishes were changed. The dish existed in Armenia long before Turkish/Azeris appearance in Armenian Hihgland.

Armenian cuisine – one of the oldest cuisines in Asia and the most ancient in the Caucasus.

…On the contrary, the Armenians have contributed to the cuisine of the Seljuk Turks, so that many truly Armenian dishes were later known in Europe through the Turks as an alleged Turkish cuisine (eg, dolma).

The type of the hearth (t’onir) and the form of the tableware (made out of clay), made ​​originally by Armenians, spread all over the South Caucasus, influencing the very nature of the dishes.

This Armenian tradition carried over to the neighbors of the Armenians – Georgians and Azerbaijanis.

Source: “The Cuisines of our peoples”, VV Pokhlebkin, 1978, Tsentrpoligraf

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Florian June 16, 2012 - 19:48

Hmmm, makes you wonder why you can’t eat a decent lyulya-kebab in Armenia… And what’s the Armenian name for lyulya-kebab, exactly?

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Whitefish Cakes, Onion and Tomato Salad « Food Perestroika July 1, 2012 - 16:03

[…] recipe closes my trilogy of “Lake Sevan’s Gifts” (see here and here for the first two parts). Common whitefish, locally called sig, was introduced into Lake Sevan from […]

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Niko May 27, 2018 - 16:43

Is there a video of your recipe?

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Florian May 28, 2018 - 21:07

No video, sorry!

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Brittany June 27, 2020 - 23:48

This looks absolutely amazing! I’m from New Orleans so I’m only used to having crawfish a handful of ways but I can’t wait to try this. Thank you and I’m so happy I happened upon this website.

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Art July 25, 2023 - 14:41

Whoever had cooked kebab on skewer just once understands that making crawfish kebab like this is not possible. I am sure the main ingredient is chicken. Otherwise why don’t they make trout or sig kebab on skewers?
Crawfish became familiar and popular in Armenia since late 70th,so it is not traditional ancient Armenian recipe as well

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Florian July 25, 2023 - 21:27

Hi Art, I’ll make you a crawfish, trout or sig kebab any day you like! The 70s were 50 years ago by the way 🙂

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