Sea food, eat food.

After yet another busy (and incredibly warm) weekend, I have now found time to get back to you, my devoted readers. The warm weather and my recent ideas for a housewarming party (I'm moving on Thursday, so stay tuned for that) have inspired me to share with you one of my most favourite of seafood items. The Lobster.



The lobster provides a unique and luxurious flavour, which is praised in many schools of cooking. From the indulgencies of the carribean, to the more uiformed and prestigious french and European schools of thought, the lobster is prized at the height of the seafood ideal. In all honesty one can understand why this is so. unlike crab and crayfish, lobster has a very rich flavour. The only downside is that generally lobster is remarkably expensive. Unless you are friendly with a good fishmonger, lobster is expensive at best. The price of fish and seafood has rocketed recently, even in canned fish and seafood.

That said, should you come across lobster at a reasonable price, the best lobster you can obtain is Scottish lobster. Chefs like the great Gordon Ramsey swear by it, and utilise only the best produce available.

The recipe for today I am going to share with you, therefore will consist of what I will be putting on the barbecue for my housewarming. This recipe has a wonderful summer feel, which is ideal for informal social occasions, and barbecues. With a south east asian / japanese feel, this recipe will be perfect for balmy evenings (and the smell will make your neighbours most envious).

Mischief: It is also remarkably tempting to keep one lobster live, in order to chase unsuspecting party guests for entertainment value.

You will need: (adjust proportions accordingly)

1 Live lobster (Frozen lobsters can be useful, but you lose a good deal of texture and flavour when cooking lobster that has been killed for a period of time and frozen).

For the marinade.. (for 1 lobster)

1 large red onion
Roughly 50g fresh coriander
1 tsp wasabi (Japanese green horseradish mustard)
2 tbsp honey
1 clove crushed garlic
1 tbsp sweet chilli
275 ml medium / sweet white wine. (If you can get sake, even better)

Equipment:

Sturdy, and very sharp knife.
Chopping Board.
Tongues (To extract the lobster). Lobsters have large claws, which can hurt. Save yourself the hassle by using tongues to pick them up with. It is however remarkably entertaining to see someone fighting off a lobster.

Marinade:

Chop the onion into a fine dice (Brunoise). Rougly chop the coriander to similar proportions.

Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Place the lobsters in a suitable container (Tupperware works just fine) and pour over the marinade. Cover the lobsters and place them in the refrigerator to marinate for 30-60 minutes before cooking.

Steady Now..:

Kill the lobster humanely by stabbing them through the cross in the centre of their head (this will kill them instantly), then cut through the rest of the lobster to cut them in half. Remove the internal track and the grey sack in the head. Remove the claw from the body and crack the claw with the back of your knife.

Place the lobsters with their claws flesh side down on a moderate-high barbecue. Cook the lobster for 5-8 minutes on each side. Alternatively cook the lobsters under a hot grill. The lobster shell should be red when they are ready and the flesh should be pink and white.