I don’t know why but I’ve been craving lobster all week. March is not a great time for craving lobster because it ain’t lobster season and I do try to eat what is in season. (I’m eating tons of citrus right now.) Although it is not lobster season, you can still get lobster pretty much all year round at the Asian store. I was not disappointed. They had a tank full of live lobsters. I paid $10.98 a pound. Not the cheapest but not too bad. I asked the guy for one of the larger ones. It was just over two pounds.
Initially, I was planning on making ginger scallion lobster but I wasn’t up for the deep frying part so I decided to cook the lobster in a Thai curry sauce. It is my favorite way to cook crab so I figured it should work well with the lobster. I’m not too fond of the typical steamed and served with clarified butter route. I don’t usually order lobster at American restaurants because they are often prepared this way but I took the bf out for his birthday dinner and ended up adding a rock lobster tail to my entrée.
Lobster in Prik Khing Curry:2 ¼ lb lobster
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 ounces prik khing curry paste(half of the small can)
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ onion, sliced
7 ounces coconut milk (half can)
2 kaffir lime leaves, torn into smaller pieces
1 stalk lemon grass, cut into 2 inch pieces and smashed
MSG, to taste
Fish sauce, to taste
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ red bell pepper, sliced
1 egg
handful cilantro, roughly chopped
handful Thai basil leaves
5 stalks green onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
Mise en Place:
1. Cut lobster into 12 pieces. Using a heavy cleaver cut the body into four pieces, the tail into two, and the claws into three pieces each. Crack each piece.
2. Prep all vegetables.
Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large wok. Add prik khing paste; fry until fragrant. Add garlic and onions; continue to cook until onions are soft. Add coconut milk; fry until fragrant. Add lime leaves, lemon grass, MSG, fish sauce and sugar. Simmer for a few minutes.
2. Add lobster pieces, red bell peppers and egg. Toss to coat lobster with sauce. (Add a little water if the bottom of the pan is scorching.)
3. Cover and cook until lobster is red. Turn off heat, add cilantro, basil, and green onions.
Say hello to Lenny the lobster. I have been trained to quickly and humanely kill lobsters but every time I do it, I still freak out. It's really hard to kill a living thing. Lenny was very much alive and active when I took him/her out of the fridge. I stored the lobster in a paperbag and covered the gills with strips of wet newspaper. I was sure the lobster would die in the fridge. It flopped its way on the counter and even sent the spice container across the room.
I chose Prik Khing Curry Paste but any Thai curry paste will work. The dark green stuff in the lobster body is called the tomalley. The tomalley is considered a delicacy but recent reports show high levels of toxins and pollutants in the tomalley of lobsters from the Maine/New England areas.
Veggies are prepped and the lobster has been hacked into small pieces and the the claws have been pre-cracked.
Cooking method in photos:
I know I've been MIA lately. Many food lovers go through blah periods, where nothing tastes good. I haven't been craving anything until the lobster. I cooked regular (uninspiring and unblog-worthy) meals.
Dinner at Oceanaire Restaurant. I ordered the mahi mahi and I debated between getting it Oscar style or adding a lobster tail. The lobster tail won. The bf ordered salmon. We "shared" the fried green beans with the aoli. I ate two bites of the fish and ended up giving most of it to the bf. I filled up on the yummy sour dough bread.
Here's a picture of baby Jack's first birthday birthday cake. It was Hungry Hungry Caterpillar theme.
And the birthday boy after enjoying the green frosting from his cupcake.
