Lobster
Lobster is a home-style seafood dish at difficulty 4/5 (Advanced), about 571 kcal. This dish is spicy,numbing, savory, and fresh with tender and juicy meat. Ingredients and step-by-step instructions are below, with notes for home cooking.
4 / 5
★★★★☆
571 kcal
Ingredients
- Lobster
- Oil
- Bay leaves
- Star anise
- Cinnamon
- Green Sichuan peppercorns
- Sichuan peppercorns
- Bullet-point chili peppers
- Scallions
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Pixian bean paste
- Cooking soybean paste
- Beer
- Light soy sauce
- Salt
Steps
- Clean the lobsters thoroughly and remove the intestinal veins. Cut scallions into 2cm sections and mince the ginger and garlic.
- Heat the oil until it is slightly warm, then add the bay leaves, star anise, cinnamon, green Sichuan peppercorns, Sichuan peppercorns, and bullet-point chili peppers.
- Once the spices release their aroma, add the scallions, ginger, and garlic.
- After stir-frying the scallions, ginger, and garlic until fragrant, add the Pixian bean paste and cooking soybean paste, and stir-fry until red oil is rendered.
- Add the lobsters and stir-fry until they change color.
- Add beer. Once the beer boils, add the light soy sauce and salt.
- When the lobsters are fully cooked, remove from heat and serve.
Notes
This dish is spicy,numbing, savory, and fresh with tender and juicy meat. It is a classic Sichuan and Hunan-style appetizer to share with alcohol when cooked at home, as it is clean and cost-effective. Lobster is rich in high-quality protein and various trace elements, but the sauce is high in oil and salt, so it is suitable for occasional enjoyment. Processing live lobsters and various spices presents a certain challenge for beginners; however, skipping the intestinal vein removal significantly lowers the difficulty. The whole process from preparation to serving takes about 45 minutes.
Estimated Cooking Difficulty: ★★★★
Estimated Calories: 571 kcal
Group: Lobster
Calculation:
The following quantities are for 2 jin (approx. 1 kg) of lobsters; adjust proportions as needed.
- Lobster = 2 jin
- Oil = 70 ml (Three times the amount used for regular stir-frying)
- Bay leaves = 2 leaves
- Star anise = 1 piece
- Cinnamon = 3 g
- Green Sichuan peppercorns = 10 g
- Sichuan peppercorns = 10 g
- Bullet-point chili peppers = 5 g
- Scallions = 1 large scallion
- Ginger = 30 g
- Garlic = 7 cloves
- Pixian bean paste = 30 g
- Cooking soybean paste = 30 g
- Beer = 500 ml
- Light soy sauce = 30 ml
- Salt = 10 g
Restaurants typically deep-fry the lobsters first. Deep-frying at home is too wasteful, so this recipe uses slightly more oil than usual to pan-fry them, and the result is equally delicious.
Processed lobster meat tastes slightly worse than meat without the intestinal vein, and removing the vein is a challenge for beginners. If you can accept eating with the vein intact, it can be left on.
If you notice any issues or areas for improvement in the execution of this guide, please submit an Issue or Pull Request.