Lobster Dinner and Jazz

Last Easter Monday, I prepared lobster for dinner. I call it Lobster Jez.

For vegetarians and people like me, who want to cut down on their red meat consumption, lobster is the substitute for steak.

My lobster recipe is very easy to prepare. It starts with a live lobster.

Fresh and live lobster usually come from the Maritimes, Cape Cod and Newport RI.

Here in Toronto, cold live lobster is easily available at the Chinese shopping area located along Gerrard St., at the Chinatown in Spadina and at most large Chinese supermarkets. Some mainstream supermarts like Loblaws or SuperCentre even sell frozen cooked lobsters.

A large lobster, above, costs around $20 in Toronto, and a small one, retails for $10. Lobsters are abundant during the cold season.

When I cook lobster, I prefer the live ones. To start, I would put the lobster in a large casserole and just run cold water over it. I do this to actually cleanse the crustacean of any dirt or slime which it got from the water source or from the water tank at the grocery. When doing this, do not remove the small rubber bands which have been tied to lobster's claws. You don't want to hurt yourself.

While cleansing the lobster, peel and cut a medium-size ginger into tiny strips. Take two stalks of fresh green onions (leek) and cut into four pieces. Then, put the ginger and green onions into the casserole where you put the lobster. Boil this.

The lobster has a brownish, black color. When it is cooked, it turns reddish. Once the water boils, I leave it on for another five minutes. You don't want to overcook it.

Remove the lobster from the casserole and put on a strainer; cool it down. Once it's cooled, you can cut it into several pieces. The lobster's shell is very hard so I use either a saw knife or the Showtime's sportsman knife.

In cutting the lobster, I cut the leg into two parts; then separate the claws. The body itself, I cut into two pieces; and the tail, again, into two pieces. I prefer to slightly open the claws and the leg parts, by pounding them with a wood mallet or if possible, use a big nut cracker, or the special lobster "claw cracker."

Then peel and cut another fresh ginger, and two stalks of fresh green onions. Also, prepare the following : 1/3 third lemon, several cubed slices of canned pineapple, soysauce, and corn starch for thickening, and lastly, oyster sauce.

Now, you can either use a wok or a large frying pan. Put it on medium heat, add olive oil, and fry the ginger and green onions. Mix in the lobster. Add 1/2 cup of water, or more, depending on your preference.

Squeeze lemon into it, add soy sauce, oyster sauce and keep on mixing (as if frying the whole mixture). Add the pineapple slices. I would put corn starch into water, add little soy sauce, and mix and pour into the lobster mix. Keep on stirring.

For best results, I spoon in the sauce into the insides of the lobster pieces, so the sauce would be fully absorbed. If you like it a little hot, you can put a piece of red chili.

There! You can serve it on a big platter with jasmine rice or plain fried rice. Best to enjoy with a bottle of red wine and some jazz.