No matter how you cook lobster, once you put it on the plate, it looks pretty impressive. Whether it’s still encased in its bright crimson shell or its meat delicately placed atop fresh greens, it’s a dish that’s sure to impress. But even with a food that is as elegant as this — it’s hard to believe lobster was once a meal served to prisoners — sometimes you want to elevate it, giving it just a bit more than the traditional butter sauce. Marinating the meat is one way to add flavor, but be careful, warns chef and restaurateur Rick Bayless. The one thing you don’t want to do is to give it too much acid.
While a marinade can add richness as well as flavor to lobster, while also preventing the meat from drying out, “too much acid will essentially ‘cook’ your fish by breaking down its proteins,” Bayless says. The famed chef connected with Chowhound while promoting Utility, a restaurant trade show, set to take place May 18 through May 19 in his hometown, Chicago. He notes that in Mexican cuisine, strongly acidic marinades are used to create ceviches from raw seafood. “However, marinating seafood in too much acid for too long will create an overcooked, dry texture.” That doesn’t mean Bayless avoids acid altogether. When making lobster, “I like to lean on citrus (zest is always welcome) with olive oil, salt, herbs, and dried chiles.”
To marinate or not marinate lobster
Should you risk marinating lobster at all? Whether or not to marinate, Bayless says, “depends on if you’re talking about lobster meat (out of the shell) or a whole lobster (or tail), shell and all,” Bayless says. “If it’s in the shell, flavor the water you’re going to poach it in or marinate the meat after you’ve removed it from the shell to add more flavor.”
Bayless often showcased his and other chefs’ methods for bringing lobster to new heights as the long-time host of the Public Television series “Mexico — One Plate at a Time.” Not only has Bayless, whose restaurants include Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, Xoco, and Bar Sotano, highlighted his own sophisticated lobster taco and lobster with a smoky garlic mojo, but also watched as chef Juan Pablo Loza crafted coconut lobster soup and a dish known as lobster zarandeado.
If you still can’t imagine lobster without some kind of butter sauce, consider serving it with a French beurre blanc made with the sweet flavor of vanilla. And in addition to being careful with your marinade, remember, the best lobster isn’t always the biggest.
