New England Lobster Roll - Ethnic Foods R Us

To make a perfect New England lobster roll, you want to keep it simple.

(Photo Attributed to Author: Ehedaya)

The succulent flavor of lobster meat is in itself what you want featured. Avoid the temptation to add much – if anything – to this simple, yet elegant recipe. Too many extra flavors can wind up overshadowing the unique and subtle flavor of the lobster salad filling. Even the use of sriracha hot sauce, if overdone, can ruin a good New England Lobster Roll. You may even want to not use any hot sauce at all, but I find just a bit of it actually adds a “brightening-up” taste to the lobster. Experiment for yourself.

Note: If you are going to use fresh lobster meat, and will cook it yourself, you will need to buy four times the weight (in lobster tail form) of the amount you want to wind up with for your lobster salad. In other words, for this recipe, which calls for 1 pound of lobster meat, you would need four pounds of fresh lobster tails.

The below recipe does not take into account cooking time for the lobster, so for your convenience there is a chart below the recipe which shows how long to steam the tails.

New England Lobster Roll Recipe-

Ingredients:

(makes 4 sandwiches)

1 lb. cooked New England (or Maine) lobster meat, cut into bite-sized chunks (or 4 lb. Lobster Tails, uncooked)
⅓ cup olive oil mayonnaise
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
¼ cup finely chopped (inner, tender stalks) of celery
1 tsp. chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp. minced green onions
4 dashes Sriracha hot sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. melted butter, for the salad filling
2 tbsp. butter, for fry-toasting the buns
4 unsplit hot dog buns (get large, good quality buns. I prefer potato, whole wheat, or sourdough)
several large leaves of iceberg lettuce (optional, for a “bed” under the lobster salad filling)

Directions:

Place the cooked and chopped lobster meat in a large mixing bowl.
In another, smaller bowl, combine the olive oil mayonnaise, lemon juice, celery, cilantro, green onions, sriracha, melted butter, and salt and pepper. Mix together thoroughly, and then do a taste test – adjust as needed for seasoning.
Add the seasoned mixture into the large bowl containing the cooked lobster meat and mix everything together well.
Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet, over medium high heat. Slice the buns down the middle lengthwise, deep enough to open them up, but not cut all the way through. Now fry-toast them, cut sides open and down, until nice and golden brown.
To assemble your sandwiches, divide the lobster salad into four equal portions. If you are going to add the bed of lettuce, (optional, personally I prefer not to, but it’s your choice), do that first. Then spoon on the lobster salad.
Enjoy your New England Lobster Roll right away, while nice and fresh-made.

Lobster Steaming Instructions:
1 lb – 10 minutes
1-1/4 lb. – 12 minutes
1-1/2 lb. – 14 minutes
1-3/4 lb. – 16 minutes
2 lb. – 18 minutes
2-1/2 lb. – 22 minutes
3 lb. – 25 to 30 minutes
5 lb. – 45 to 50 minutes