Chirstmas Crayfish - Crayfish Recipes

Chefs and passionate cooks alike love to sample the first of the rock lobster season's produce, from tender young asparagus, lush red ripe summer strawberries, juicy stone fruits sun-ripened on the trees and to me, one of life's best treats, the taste of the first fresh rock lobster of the season.

There is nothing quite like catching, cooking and eating your first lobster of the season, taken steaming and glistening red from the pot, peeling away the outer tail shell to reveal the succulent white-and-pink tinged flesh.

I have to say, the absolute best way to eat lobster is to take the warmed lobster and make a sandwich, in white bread with plenty of butter, a touch of salt and white pepper -.heaven on a stick !!!

It's not exactly a recipe that you can create in a five-star restaurant, but foods prepared in the simplest manner will often outshine more complex recipes.

We owe much to our commercial fishermen, because not everyone has the luxury of being able to catch their own fish or lobster.

However, some 22,000 Western Australians take out recreational licences to catch rock lobster for their own table, with the season running from November 15th to June 30th.

Four species are caught - the Western Rock Lobster, the southern fighter or tiger cray (known for its golden striped ‘tiger' markings), and two tropical species - the painted and ornate rock lobsters generally found north of the Tropic of Capricorn

The western rock lobster, found in our cooler temperate waters, is highly prized due to its evenly-textured, succulent white flesh.

It has superior eating and keeping qualities compared to its warmer water relations.

Most of the commercial catch is exported as green (raw) frozen tails with the major markets being Taiwan, Japan, the USA and Hong Kong and China

Here are some recipes using our world-class Western Australian lobster

Chargrilled Rock Lobster with Spiced BBQ Sauce
(Serves 6 mains or 12 entrée portions)

Ingredients

6 lobsters A size, 400 grams
BBQ Sauce
7 tomatoes, ripe, chopped and seeded
150 ml vinegar
1 small piece fresh ginger, chopped
2 cloves garlic, rough chopped
1 fresh red chilli, sliced and de seeded
1 small onion, chopped
150 g sugar
pinch of each of: curry powder ,cardamon, coriander, cumin
100ml fish sauce

Sauce Method

Reduce vinegar and sugar until caramelised, add ginger, garlic, chilli and spices.

Cook for 2 minutes, add chopped tomatoes and continue to cook.

Blend, return to heat and finish with fish sauce and seasoning.

How to Cook Lobster

Split lobster in half with large cook's knife ,de-vein. (remove intestinal sac)

Brush with a little vegetable oil and sear, meat side down on a char grill or flat BBQ plate for 2 minutes.

Turn over and continue to cook for a further 3 or 4 minutes, brushing with butter several times.

Season with a pinch of sea salt.

Serve with BBQ sauce.

Lobster Sandwich with Curry Mayonnaise

Ingredients

2 lobsters, cooked, with meat removed and diced or sliced
1/4 cup curry mayonnaise
2 Tbspns toasted chopped walnuts
pinch white pepper
squirt lemon juice
3 mini baguette or crusty Italian loaves
crisp sliced Iceberg lettuce

Method

Place the lobster meat in a bowl, add the mayonnaise, walnuts and dill.

Stir ingredients gently, add pepper and lemon juice.

Slice crusty Italian loaf horizontally, smear a little mayo top and bottom, add some finely shredded crisp iceberg lettuce and generously fill with lobster mix.

Serve with wedge of lemon.

Lobster and Mango Salad with Dill Vinaigrette

Ingredients

Meat of 2 cooked lobster tails
2 mangoes peeled and sliced
3 medium sized carrots, peeled and cut into thin straws (julienned)
500g snow peas, blanched for 1 minute and cooled
2 punnets cherry tomatoes, washed
1 ripe sweet honey dew melon, peeled , quartered and cut into slices
salt and pepper to taste

Dill Vinaigrette

2tbspns white wine vinegar
2 tbspns dill choppped
2 tbspns vegetable oil
half tspn sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Put all ingredients into a glass jar with lid and shake well
Season to taste.

Salad Method

Remove lobster from shell and slice into medallions and set aside.

In a large bowl gently combine mango, tomato, melon, carrot and snow peas and pour over some of the vinaigrette over. Rest in fridge for 30 minutes.

On a large white plate gently make a mound in the middle of the plate of the salad mix, arrange lobster medallions on top and serve.

Be as creative as you want here, maybe you could make a base of crisp assorted ,lettuce leaves, or toss through a handful of picked coriander leaves, a squirt of lemon or lime juice perhaps.

Wines to go with Lobster

Lobster to most people conjures up a feeling of luxury and what better way to enjoy that feeling than to pop a bottle of bubbly.

French champagne with its yeasty characters and fine mousse is always a treat, however elegant Western Australian chardonnays, both wooded and unwooded also make perfect partners.

Sauvignon blancs and semillon sauvignon blancs, with their crisp and aromatic characteristics can handle the spiciness of lobsters cooked Asian-style with chilli and other zesty ingredients.