Boiled Lobster
By Charlotte Pike
Let award-winning cookery writer and chef Charlotte Pike teach you how to make the most of your luxurious Native Lobster in a few easy steps.
Lobster is actually very simple to cook at home and one of the quickest ways to achieve this is to boil them.
This is a very nice way of cooking the lobster meat, which will be juicy, sweet and ready to serve.
The lobsters will arrive uncooked and will look a dark blue or brown colour, and boiling it will cook the meat and turn it pink.
Once boiled, it can be split in half and the meat can be picked out and served in many ways, often with a sauce.
One of my favourites is hot buttered lobster. Simply pull out the tail meat, toss it in hot melted butter and put back into the shell to serve.
Serve one per person for a main course, and a half for a small starter.
IMPORTANT: Amity Lobsters are not sold live.
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 lobsters, defrosted
Method
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil.
Add the whole lobster and boil for 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of the lobster.
Start the timer when water comes up to the boil again after the lobster has been added to the pan, and boil until the lobster is an even pink colour.
Most small lobsters will take something like 10-13 minutes, 15 minutes for a medium lobster and 20 for a very large specimen.
Remove the cooked lobster from the pan and allow to cool before preparing.
It can be split in half, as with a grilled lobster, or the tail can be pulled off, peeled and served whole.
Crack the claws using lobster crackers and carefully pull the meat out, in one piece, if you can.
About Your Lobster
Lobster is usually seen as the jewel in the crown of Scottish seafood. It’s a very special treat to enjoy and surprisingly straightforward to prepare.
Ensure your lobster is fully defrosted before starting. Always defrost it in the fridge, so that it stays really cold. Remove the sleeve and bands on the claws before cooking.
Some lobster crackers and picks are useful to have to extract every last morsel of sweet flesh from the shell. A gentle tap with a hammer will break the claws and allow you to carefully pull out the meat, if you don’t have any to hand.
Do keep the shells and make a stock with them. It is very quick to do and will help extract every last bit of goodness from these beautiful crustaceans.
Head to our COOKING page for more for great tips on how to make the most of your Amity catch from award-winning cookery writer, teacher and chef Charlotte Pike.
