Lobster season and mother’s day is the perfect time to whip up an amazing lobster tempura with sautéed vegetables and grilled potatoes.
I really look forward to the month of may to get to celebrate mother’s day and eat lobsters! There is something about lobsters that I prefer to langoustines or shrimp. There is a sweetness in the meat that is just irresistible.
This time around to make it special, I went ahead and made them with a tempura batter and boy was it delicious! I wish we had made a couple more lobsters.
I traditionally boil or steam the lobster in salted water and then eat them straight up or halve them and add a buttery mixture of breadcrumbs on top and broil them in the oven. Recipe for another time!
Finally, instead of using garlic butter, I went ahead with a Asian citrus spicy mayonnaise to top it off.
What do you need to make this lobster tempura recipe?
Spicy Mayo: You need Sriracha sauce for a kick, garlic, lemon and lime, kosher salt and mayonnaise.
Lobsters: Go and buy live lobsters while they are in season. Go for 1 1/2 lb lobsters ideally. Depending on the time of the season you might end up going for slightly smaller or larger, which is fine too.
Tempura Batter: Mix of sparkling water, flour, salt, cornstarch and egg yolk does the trick.
How to cook your lobster?
To make your lobster tempura, you need a couple of key steps:
Parboil your lobster
You boil your lobster in salted water for about 1 minute in order for the meat to separate from the shell more easily.
Chuck the lobster in a bath of ice water so it cools off quickly, stops cooking and makes it easy to manipulate without burning yourself.
Use good scissors to cut the shell and take out your claws and tails meat. Don’t forget to devein your lobster tails!
Make your tempura batter
Tempura batter is a light batter which you can’t mix for too long as you want it to stay light and airy. Mix the ingredients with a fork or chop sticks.
Fry the lobster pieces
Heat about 3 inch of vegetable oil at around 400F. Cover your lobster pieces in the batter and gently drop them in the oil. You are looking for a golden crust. Turn your pieces over for an even fry. It should take anywhere between 2-4 minutes depending on the size of the pieces. Tails will take longer than the claws.
Only put a couple of pieces at a time and cook them in batches. You can leave them on a rack and remove excess oil with paper towels.
What to do with the lobsters shells and legs?
You can put them back into your boiling water and cook them completely (10-15 minutes) depending on the size of your lobsters. you can get some good meat from the legs and if you happen to get females, the eggs are delicious and make a great decoration on your lobster plate to serve!
If you want to make a lobster bisque or seafood broth, you can keep the shells for later in the freezer for two to three months
What to eat with your lobster?
I replaced the traditional potato salad and cole slaw for Asian grilled fingerling potatoes and sautéed bok choy.
Baby Bok Choy: This Asian vegetable can usually be found in your supermarket or Asian supermarket. It goes really well with the lobster.
Fingerling Potatoes: These potatoes are grilled on the BBQ along with red onions, sunflower oil, white miso paste, soy sauce and garlic. YUM!
Ingredients
Spicy Citrus Mayonnaise
- 5 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp Sriracha
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp lime zest
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
Lobster Tempura Batter
- 1 egg yolk
- 3/4 cup of sparkling water, iced
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 cup of flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
Lobsters
- 6 live lobsters (1 1/2 lb)
- Vegetable or Canola oil
Sautéed Boy Choy
- 8 baby bok choy
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 cloves, garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp ginger, minced
Instructions
- Mix the mayonnaise, garlic, sriracha, lemon juice, lemon and lime zest and kosher salt together in a small bowl. Reserve
- Follow the Fingerling Potatoes recipe on the above link
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the lobsters and cook them for 1 minute. Shock the cooked lobsters in ice water to cool rapidly. The goal here is to be able to easily take the meat out of the shell without sticking to the shell. Reserve the boiling water.
- Take out the tails and claws from the bodies
- Put the bodies back in the water to cook completely (10-15 minutes depending on the size of the lobster 1 lb - 1 1/2 lb). Legs and eggs are up for grabs!
- Use scissors to cut through the tail shell and open the shell to take out the tail. Devein.
- Use scissors to cut through the claw shell and gently pull out the claw without breaking the large and small claw ends.
- Bring about 3 inch of vegetable or canola oil to 400F.
- Mix the cornstarch flour and salt in a bowl
- Add the egg yolk and mix
- Add the sparkling water and mix lightly with chopsticks. It's ok if there are still some lumps
- Cover your lobster pieces in the batter and gently drop them in the hot oil without splashing.
- Cook and turn the lobster pieces until the batter is golden. About 2-4 minutes. The claws will cook a bit faster as they are small pieces than the tails.
- Separate the bok choy leaves from the white base
- Halve the bok choy base lengthwise
- Heat a pan to medium heat and add vegetable oil
- Fry the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds
- Add the sesame oil and soy sauce and then the bok choy
- Stir fry for 2-3 minutes
- Add 1/4 of water and bring the heat down to low to let it simmer until the bok choy is tender.
- Drizzle with the spicy mayo on a plate.
- To serve, add the lobster pieces, with the sauteed bok choy and the grilled fingerling potatoes.
Nutrition Information
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
