How to Cook a Live Lobster?

Lobsters almost always signify the celebration of a special occasion. Whether it’s an anniversary dinner or a proposal, the celebration of getting through to university or getting your first job, or just about any occasion that makes you happy, most of us go out for a lobster lunch or dinner. Recently however, with the availability of fresh lobsters at our doorstep, many of us take to cooking lobsters at home.

The prospect of cooking a live lobster is daunting for even experienced cooks, but the following is an idiot-proof guide. So whether you’ve been cooking for decades or are still yet to get familiar with the kitchen, you can whip up an excellent lobster dish by following only 3 simple steps.

Now, there are three ways on how to cook a live lobster – You can boil it, steam it, or grill. Though restaurants usually steam their lobsters, the simplest and most humane way to do it at home is to boil it. 

Step 1:

Once you have received your lobster, turn it on its back and put it in the freezer for approximately half an hour to forty-five minutes. This puts the lobster to sleep.

Image Courtesy: goo.gl/PLiVf

Step 2:

Fill water in a large deep bottomed stainless steel cooking utensil and heat it. Add some lemon juice and salt to the water. Once the water it bubbling and rolling, take the lobster out of the refrigerator and lower it into the boiling water. You can remove the bands around the claws now, but I wouldn’t recommend that for a beginner. Put the lid on.

Step 3:

Let it cook for about 15 minutes. The cooking time differs according to the size of the lobster so look for the tell tale signs that it’s cooked – bright red shell and curled tail. When you take a look at the meat, it should be an opaque white and firm to the touch. Your lobster is done.

Some folks like to boil their lobsters in stock. I prefer to just serve it with some melted butter. If you wish to make a stock, keep the flavours uncomplicated. Use either crushed garlic, fried shallots, finely sliced ginger. With either of these you can add some thyme, or lemon grass.  

So good luck on your lobster kitchen adventure and drop me a line about how it all went.

NOTE: Lobsters do not have a complicated nervous system and hence, according to researchers, don’t feel the kind of pain we imagine they might. Any twitching is a latent nervous system reaction, so don’t freak out if you do hear any banging.