TIPS AND TRICKS FOR COOKING LOBSTER
HOW TO CHOOSE IT
You can buy it cooked, if you have are sensitive, or alive, for the amateurs. In general you must provide between 454g (1lb) and 700g (1 ½ lb) for each person. It seems a lot!?! Don't forget the carcass's weight!
HOW TO COOK IT
Usually cooked in a pot, boiled or steamed, lobsters are also very good when roasted on the barbecue or in the oven. Be careful, don't make a lobster tartar! It must be always eaten cooked.
Here is how I cook boiled lobsters :
- In a big pot, make the salty water boil. Pour enough water to cover the lobster completely.
- Plunge the lobster head first in the boil water.
- Cook the lobster according to the following table. Start the cooking time when the water is boiling again. Think about increase the cooking time if there are more than one lobster in the same pot.
- At the end of the cooking process, plunge the lobster in ice-cold water to cool it down.
|
Lobster (weight) |
Water quantity |
Salt quantity |
Cooking time |
|
1 to 1.25 lb |
1,5 litre |
45 ml (3 tbsp) |
Male : 8 minutes |
|
1.5 lb |
1,5 litre |
45 ml (3 tbsp) |
Male : 10 minutes |
|
2 lb |
4.5 litres |
125 ml (1/2 cup) |
Male : 14 minutes |
|
3 lb |
4.5litres |
125 ml (1/2 cup) |
Male : 16 minutes |
HOW TO SHELL IT
You must have the right tools! Start by cutting the lobster on the length and remove the stomach, which are the little pouches behind the head, and the bowel, which is the little tube on the top of the tail. Some like the liver and the female roe (coral)... taste it and see if you like it! Using clamps and a spike, remove the flesh of the lobster's clamps, tail and legs.
HOW TO STORE IT
The lobster can be preserved alive for 12 hours, wrapped in a damp clothes and stored in the fridge. Avoid using a closed plastic bag.
The cooked lobster can be preserved from 1 to 2 days in the fridge, with its shell or not. Keep the lobster away from the rest of your food with a sealed container, as they may absorb the flesh odor of the lobster.
You can freeze the cooked lobster if its shell have been removed. Store the flesh in a freezer bag and don't forget to remove as much air as you can. The flesh can be preserved a month only.
HOW TO SEASON IT
Stop using the traditional garlic butter, which turn off the lobster taste... Have fun with flavored oils or butters with herbs. Think about Pastis, tarragon, fennel, citrus fruits, vanilla, chorizo, mango and ginger.
If you already mastered the basics and are ready for the next level, we have made up a great lobster course just for you. Maybe you will discover many other recipes.
The lobster's season is so short, may, june, july... GO FOR IT!
