A lobster roll is meant to be comfort food; knowing that you’re paying $60 a roll isn’t the least bit comforting. As limpeh was eating a roll at a restaurant, my kiam siap tongue berated my sim tiah heart, “Hey, gong kia! You could cook this at home, instead of paying $60! Why let the restaurant Jover-Chew-Mobile-Air you??”
It’s fast and simple: Excluding the preparation time (the chopping, and deshelling), I took only 5 minutes to cook.
It’s cheap: I got my lobsters at Cold Storage. They were having a 1-for-1 promotion at $22.90. I estimated the price of an entire roll cost me about $13. That’s 20% of the price you pay at restaurants.
It’s delicious and impressive: cook for a date, you’ll get lucky. You can also use lobster rolls for a party. Prepare the filling in advance, provide your guests with rolls, and get them to fill the buns themselves.
Ingredients
1 lobster per roll
Hotdog bun
Mayo
Celery
Parsley
Lemon
Butter
Red onion
Salt & pepper
Additional Ingredients
I had these sitting in my fridge but they are not essential.
Avocado
Cheese (mine was cheddar)
Cooking Instructions
1. Boil lobster in salt water till it’s bright red (8-12min) and dunk it in iced water. Cut the lobster into chunky bite-sizes. (My lobster came pre-cooked, so I skipped this step completely. But of course, live lobsters are best.)
2. Chop the parsley and celery (and optional avocado). Mix in mayo and lemon juice. If you want a lighter lobster roll, use less mayo and more lemon juice. If you want a richer one, use more mayo, less juice.
3. Throw lobster in and coat it well. Rest in fridge for 5 min.
4. In the meanwhile, toast your bun. Melt a knob of butter on your pan at low fire. Slather your bun on all 4 sides with butter generously and put it in the pan, rotating the bun, toasting each side to golden brown. (My bun was so wickedly toasted it crackled when I sliced it.) Also remember to butter the inside. If you want, you can add cheddar cheese (or any sort of melty cheese) inside. This will take 3 min.
5. Assemble your lobster roll. Put red onion–a little red onion goes a long way–and add salt and pepper to taste. Viola!
If you are adventurous, you can also try different variations, such as adding wasabi, or chutney, or sweet mustard. Have fun!
Written by A. Nathanael Ho.
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