4 Levels of Lobster: Amateur to Food Scientist

[lobster shell cracking] [glass clinking]

[soup boiling] [lemon spritzing]

[bright upbeat music]

Hi, I'm Onika and I'm a Level 1 chef.

Hi, I'm Lorenzo and I'm a Level 2 chef.

Hi, my name is Fatima

and I've been a professional chef for over 10 years.

[bright upbeat music]

Lobster dinner is fancy-schmancy.

It's like you wanna impress your in-laws,

like, they're not really your in-laws.

You're trying to make them your in-laws.

Outside at a picnic table, wearing your bibs,

letting it get everywhere.

It's always a celebration, a party of sorts.

It's never just a home dinner though,

I can tell you that much.

If it is, lucky you.

[screen whooshing]

[bright upbeat music]

I chose lobster tails

because that's where all the good stuff is.

That's where the meat is.

It's like the junk in the trunk of the lobster.

I love eating a whole lobster.

There's nothing wrong with a tail,

but I love everything else in the lobsters.

So, I am making a whole lobster dinner

with garlic bread on the side.

I'm gonna be using a live lobster.

I want to elevate the way

that a lobster dinner is presented.

I'm gonna focus on the broth that it's gonna cook in.

I'm gonna add fresh pasta and a delicious beurre blanc.

So, I'm gonna start with the butter first.

I'm gonna use the butter to lather up my tails.

I'm gonna make lobster tails and street corn.

It's gonna be a little sweet and it's gonna have this kick

that's just gonna, like, kick you and then hug you.

Hello, Lobster.

That's about the only introduction I do.

I don't want to name you.

This is probably the hardest part a lot of people have.

A lot of people do the the freezer thing

to make it sleep first.

I like to dispatch it quickly right away.

Just pull her out.

It looks pretty pulling it out,

but also it's gonna make for better cooking

and less fight.

So, now you don't have to fight your way out of it.

It's gonna be right there for you.

Brush my butter.

Yeah, she feels like she needs

to be greased up a little bit.

I'm gonna put it in an oven and I'll be right back, okay?

I have a pot of water that I'm boiling here,

and I'm gonna make what we call a court bouillon.

A court bouillon is a culinary term

for liquid that has aromatics and flavorings in it,

so that whatever you're cooking in that liquid

absorbs some of that deliciousness.

This has been boiling and it is steaming as you can see.

[Fatima] I'm gonna add my lobster.

And away we go.

And set my timer for eight minutes.

Okay, wow! All right.

What a beautiful, beautiful red orange,

semi-cooked whole lobster.

The lobster is looking really good.

It's bright red and the shell

has kinda come away from its flesh,

which has given me a little bit of peek inside.

And I'm gonna strain my broth carefully.

So, this is going to be a flavor bomb that I'm gonna reduce,

and then I'm gonna add to fortify my beurre blanc.

So, now I'm gonna have two different sauces.

I'm gonna have my butter, of course.

And then, I'm gonna have a spicy mayo.

I'm gonna start

with my butter. Butter.

In order to make clarified butter,

you have to basically separate the milk solids

from the butter.

Ooh. [butter sizzling]

Do you hear that? It's talking to me.

The butter is asking for cayenne pepper.

I'm just gonna prep a couple things

while this is still melting down.

I will, let's start with

the garlic. Garlic.

That looks pretty decent.

I can see that foam is forming at the top,

which I will get rid of.

I'm gonna kind of skim it.

So, you can see that that is clear of solids.

And there you go, folks.

We have clarified butter.

Onto the herb part.

I am going to add my garlic in here.

For the mayo, I'm gonna get a sweet and spicy combo

with a little zest. Zest juice lemon.

My fun parsley, sweet paprika.

[Onika] She needs a little black pepper.

[Lorenzo] Of course.

That's really good.

Then, I am going to add my clarified

butter. Butter.

So, now my sauces are ready for dipping.

I have my butter sauce and I have my spicy mayo.

I'm gonna cut him just right down the center.

I am going to crack the claws of the lobster.

Through the head first.

Just a little crack. [hammer thumping]

[Fatima] Lobster is messy.

I'm going to split it in half or butterfly the lobster.

Straight down the middle.

And then,

down the tail. Tail.

[lobster shell cracking]

I'm gonna pull out the meat first from the tail,

and I'm gonna start working on the claw.

What you see here is the tamale.

I know some people don't like it, but I love it.

This is really, like,

my favorite way of presenting a lobster.

I'm gonna use the back of my knife

to see if I can get it to crack open in two pieces.

So, I have my claw meat here and I have the tail here.

I'm gonna cut these up, toss it in the sauce,

and then use the shell as a vessel

to put the meat back in and present it.

Have to add this delicious herb butter.

You know what? Let's bathe in it, shall we?

Look at that beautiful butterflied lobster.

Remember, folks, I already cooked it in the steamer,

so this is just warming through my herb butter.

Here we go. [gentle playful music]

I'm gonna be making a very classic French sauce

called beurre blanc which is made with shallots,

white wine vinegar, and white wine.

And you let this reduce until in French,

you call it sec, which is until dry.

The way that I'm elevating it

is that I'm also gonna add my lobster stock,

the same broth that we used to poach our lobster at.

Then, you wanna add your butter in slowly.

And it's crucial that the butter be very cold.

Those already kind of warm and already very softened.

Then as you add it in,

it's just gonna melt and not emulsify.

And you can see here that we have

a really beautiful, silky buttery base.

This is perfectly seasoned.

And I'm gonna keep it warm while I boil my pasta.

So, I'm having street corn with my lobster

because I'm giving it summertime feel.

So, I have corn. It's in a can.

'Cause that's the fastest way to get corn.

So, my side I'm gonna use with my lobster

is a French baguette.

But I am going to make it into a garlic bread first

using my herb butter here.

I'm gonna make fresh pasta to go with our lobster dinner.

So, to get started, I have flour here

and I'm gonna make a well in the center of the flour.

So, now I put in my corn.

You would never know that this is corn out of a can.

Who could tell?

I feel like I'm just gonna put

a little bit of chili powder while it's cooking.

First, let's slather.

This is not a time to be shy.

You got the herb butter, so use it.

I have five eggs

that are gonna add nice richness to my flour.

And then, I can use my hands

to start to bring everything together.

I'm gonna put a little bit of Parmesan in here now.

So, now my corn is all cheesy and buttery

and peppery and ready to go.

I'm just gonna pour into this bowl.

We have herb butter

slathered on a beautiful French baguette.

I am going to put it in the oven and bake it off,

and out comes garlic bread.

I feel pretty good about where my dough is now.

I'm gonna let this rest a little bit.

That will allow the gluten strands to relax,

allowing it, for it to be more malleable and softer,

so that we can pass it through our pasta maker.

Little mayo, more Parmesan, little lime, chili powder.

We have to be a little careful with this.

Boom, boom. It's all in the wrist.

Get a little cilantro in the building.

Now, this is street corn. Look at that.

The dough is rested.

So, I'm gonna do a third at a time.

My pasta machine is set to zero,

which is the widest setting.

I'm gonna roll this out just so it's a little bit thinner,

making it easier for it to go through the wheels.

I like to go with the first few passes a couple of times

just to get the dough a little bit even.

[pasta machine clunking]

I'm gonna be adding fresh herbs to my pasta.

It's gonna add a little bit of that green element

that is traditional in a lobster dinner.

I'll try to see if I can seal it.

And you can really see how the herbs

have stretched out along with the pasta.

Once you pull it in,

you kinda want to hold it from the other side

so the noodles don't fall apart.

And you get this beautiful bundle.

My pasta is here, looking beautiful.

What's great about handmade fresh noodles

is that it only takes a few minutes.

And what you're looking for is for the pasta to float

and to spend a few minutes in the boiling water.

That's done.

I got a nice bite of the tarragon,

which will be so nice for the beurre blanc.

My lobsters are ready.

Look. Aren't they pretty?

Look at that.

Forget your tongs. I'm just gonna take you as is.

[gasps] Ooh. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

So, I have my beurre blanc here.

Have my pasta already.

And then I have my lobster shell.

I'm gonna add my lobster meat and give that a nice toss.

So, I feel like she is our star.

Let's stagger them.

♪ One night only ♪

[Lorenzo] I am going to place the butter

at the head of the table.

And then, I'm using the shell as a plating vessel

so that you just have to go in with a fork,

not even a knife, and just pick up

these beautiful sauced morsels of your lobster dinner.

Then, the corn.

I feel like the corn should be at their feet.

Bowing down. Bow down.

Hello, garlic bread.

I have a knife, but who needs a knife?

Are you joking? Raaah!

And now for the pasta,

I'm just gonna take out one portion.

The vibrant green is gonna be a really beautiful contrast

with the white sauce.

And the dipping sauce it is.

Okay, okay. Go, Onika.

[laughs] One last thing to do is a squeeze.

And even in the clarified butter.

I'm gonna bring over my beautiful lobster.

I think having the claw there is super beautiful

and kind of a ode to the way

our traditional lobster dinners had.

And to take this up to the next level,

I'm gonna finish with caviar.

Caviar's gonna give a beautiful salinity,

and it's also gonna add complexity and texture.

This is my lobster, butter, mayo and street corn.

[drum beats]

Voila, my crustacean celebration.

Lobster dinner served with garlic bread.

[drum beats]

And here you have my version

of a traditional lobster dinner.

[drum beats]

I'm really excited about the caviar on top.

And a classic beurre blanc, you can't go wrong.

[gentle lively music]

Enough talking. I need to try it.

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

But I'm gonna do this.

[gentle lively music]

[utensil clinking]

It is delicious.

Ha! Forget about it, you guys.

Absolutely soft and succulent. It's sweet.

It's the right blend of spicy, citrusy.

The lobster meat is so fresh.

It is so tasty.

The lobster is cooked perfectly,

and the sauce is this perfect coating.

This is, to me, my dream lobster dinner.

Let's see how each of our three chefs

made their luxurious lobster dinner.

[drum beats]

Onika baked lobster tails.

It feels like this is a dinosaur

and I get to cut away a dinosaur.

Lorenzo steamed his whole lobster.

Steaming is really the best way.

It'll make the meat very soft.

It's delicious. It won't dry it out.

Proteolytic enzymes in the lobster

have to be inactivated quickly by heat.

Otherwise, the lobster can get mushy

by too much protein breakdown.

Plunging the lobster into boiling water

will definitely do it, and so will steaming the lobster.

What a beautiful, oh, it turned into a crab.

Just kidding.

Why I say these things?

Fatima boiled a whole live lobster in seasoned water.

Notice that the color turns bright red almost immediately.

The lobsters have red orange carotenoids like astaxanthin

attached to a protein molecules.

The pigment and the proteins split apart when heated,

so the carotenoids are free to express

their beautiful and vibrant red color.

[drum beats]

Onika made spicy garlic butter with Old Bay.

Mm. That was a little too much.

A classic seasoning that includes celery, salt, peppers,

and various other additions like cardamom, ginger,

mustard seeds, and paprika.

Aah! Aah!

Okay, stop.

Lorenzo made clarified butter.

Of course, mine's herb butter,

but it's clarified herb butter.

When butter is heated, water evaporates

and the milk solids precipitate and collect at the bottom.

The concentrated golden milk fat is clarified butter.

Delicioso.

Fatima made a classic beurre blanc and emulsified sauce

made by whisking cold butter into a white wine

and shallot reduction.

Emulsions are inherently unstable.

[Fatima] There is a certain amount of technique

that goes with it.

And if you add too much butter too quickly,

the oil droplets from the butter

that are surrounded by water from the vinegar and wine

start to compress and the sauce breaks.

[drum beats]

Onika served her lobster tails with corn elote,

roasted in a skillet and seasoned with mayonnaise,

paprika, chili powder, and Parmesan.

It's getting hot in here.

♪ It's getting hot in here ♪

That's the corn singing, not me.

The subtle sweetness of the corn from the hexanal

and dimethyl sulfide compliment the slight sweetness

of the lobster meat.

Now, this is street corn. Look at that.

Lorenzo kept it simple and delicious with garlic bread.

Ooh, oh, oh, oh. Oh my, oh my, oh my.

He crisped it in the oven for a nice textural component.

Fatima served her lobster with handmade pasta.

She laminated parsley and tarragon

between two sheets of pasta,

and then cut it into fettuccine.

This added an herbal flavor and a beautiful visual aspect.

Kinda twirl it around to make it really elegant.

She topped her lobster dinner with caviar.

A decadent composition of amino acids, sugars,

phospholipids with a saline finish.

Caviar is definitely a level three elevation.

A really beautiful, elevated dinner

with caviar minus all the mess.

Next time you are making a special

and indulgent lobster dinner for one, two, or a whole crowd,

we hope you'll take some of these tips

from our three wonderful chefs.

[soft bright music]