The Chinese are known for their prowess in cooking seafood, but even in China, no one school of cooking rivals that of the Cantonese when it comes to preparing shellfish. Cantonese cooking is one of the major schools of Chinese cooking which include Szechuan, Hunan, and Shanghai among others. It is the school of cooking that is featured most prominently in Chinese restaurants outside of China. It emphasizes using fresh ingredients to create clean and simple flavors that allow the main ingredient to shine. One of the best and most famous Cantonese recipes for lobster is lobster with scallions and ginger. The delicate and sweet meat of the lobster marries exquisitely with the pungent spice of ginger and the green and slight bitterness of scallions. It is truly a classic lobster dish.
The first step in preparing lobster with ginger and scallions is to select a lobster. The disk will work well with frozen lobster tails, but nothing rivals the succulent, sweet meat of fresh lobster. The texture of the lobster meat will also be better with fresh lobster. One 1 1/2 pound lobster for every two guests should be purchase for this recipe. When buying live lobsters, one should look for lobsters that have both claws and are lively when picked up by the fishmonger from the tank. They should be transported home immediately and stored in the refrigerator till use.
One of the most daunting tasks that prevents a lot of people from preparing lobster at home is prepping the lobster for cooking. Lobster is one of the few foods that home cooks have to butcher themselves. Chickens, beef, and pork are usually slaughtered and wrapped prior to purchase, but lobsters should be alive when they come out of the tank. In this recipe, the lobsters must be cut up into small pieces, which can be even more terrifying than throwing a lobster into a pot of hot water. A useful trick to make a lobster more docile and less likely to move during the butchering process is to place it into the freeze 20 minutes before preparing it. While the lobster is chilling in the freezer, the cook should get out a sharp chef’s knife with a strong tip. Also, several sprigs of green onion, 3 cloves of garlic, and 2 inches of peeled ginger root can be thinly sliced. Once the lobster has been sufficiently chilled, it needs to be placed on a cutting board and then carefully cut lengthwise down the back, slicing the lobster into two halves. Next, the claws should be removed and reserved. They can be cracked with a tap from the back of the knife to facilitate eating later. After that, each half of the body needs to be cut up into 6-7 pieces.
Once all the lobsters have been dismantled, they need to be coated lightly with corn starch. The next step in cooking lobster with ginger and onion is gently frying the lobster meat in oil. A small pot of oil should be heated to approximately 350 degrees. Once the oil has come up to temperature, the lobster is added to the oil and allowed to fry for 2 minutes. It is important not to overcook lobster because it can become tough. The lobster meat should be reserved on a plate to keep warm.
The final stir fry process can begin by heating a wok or a frying pan on high heat till they become extremely hot. After the wok is hot, oil is added and the scallions, ginger, and garlic are stir fried for 30 seconds. The lobster meat is now added back and tossed with the vegetables. Next, the cook needs to add a splash of soy sauce and approximately 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce and toss the contents of the pan with the seasonings.
The lobster is now ready to enjoy.
