Lobster with Ginger & Spring Onion

Seriously, this takes less than 3 minutes to cook! But as with all stir-fries that bit of effort in the prep is all-important, though here not extensive.

We're at the point in the year when lobster prices start heading toward their Christmas crescendo and the tubs of lobster meat stop appearing on the market stall. So, if feeling experimental with more unusual ideas for dishes featuring lobster (another suggestion is Goan Lobster), this is still a good time to give something new, and punchy, a go. The accompanying ingredients in this dish are not only accompanying, at least in my view, they are also easy to find and cheap to buy.

In the original recipe in "Rick Stein's Seafood Lovers' Guide" whole, raw lobsters are used, shell and all, but I have adapted it to use ready-picked lobster meat and it works superbly. Don't get me wrong, I would happily pick my way through chunks of shell-on lobster immune to the inevitable mess everywhere. This is just an alternative.

In the introduction to the recipe, Rick Stein writes: "It's worth seeking out some good, fresh, fine egg noodles for this dish: the ubiquitous dried egg noodles, whose name I won't record, just won't do." Sorry, Rick, I think I may have used those noodles. Maybe they got better in the last 20 years?

Lobster with Ginger & Spring Onion

Ingredients (serves 1)

1 nest of fine egg noodles

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 tbsp ginger, sliced as finely as possible (using a mandolin if you dare)

1 tbsp finely chopped red chilli, or to taste

1-2 spring onions, cut into 1" slices on the diagonal

75g cooked lobster meat

1 tsp light soy sauce

A few pinches of ground white pepper

½ tsp sesame oil, plus a little extra

1 tsp oyster sauce

2 tsp Shaoxing rice wine, or dry sherry

A pinch of caster sugar

½ tsp cornflour

Sunflower or vegetable oil

Method

1. In a small bowl, combine the light soy sauce, white pepper, sesame oil, oyster sauce, rice wine (or sherry), sugar and cornflour and mix well to create the sauce.

2. Now prepare the noodles according to the packet instructions. When cooked, drain and coat them in a little sesame oil. Keep warm.

3. Heat some oil in a wok over a medium-high heat and add the garlic, ginger and red chilli and cook for about 30 seconds, without colouring, then add the spring onion and cook for a further 30 seconds.

4. Finally, add the lobster meat and then the sauce and stir fry for no more than a minute until the lobster meat has warmed through and the sauce has thickened. Serve immediately on top of the noodles.

References

1. "Rick Stein's Seafood Lovers' Guide", Rick Stein (2000), pp. 118: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rick-Steins-Seafood-Lovers-Guide/dp/0563488719