Sweet Butter Braised Lobster Tail

The one exquisite holiday dish I crave is the sweet butter braised lobster tail. This is a Thomas Keller’s recipe from the French Laundry. A simple adaptation at home is the closest I can get to visiting French Laundry or dining in a restaurant. So, why not? Above all, the joy and pride in getting the dish right in my own kitchen is unmatched. For all the struggle and loss in 2020, a luxurious meal at the end of a long year offers tremendous relief and satisfaction.

The process, Mr. Keller wrote in the The French Laundry Cookbook, ”loads the flavor of butter into the meat and cooks it so slowly and gently that the flesh remains exquisitely tender — so tender some people think it’s not completely cooked.”

Who doesn’t like eating lobster dipped in melted butter? Notably, the sweet butter braised lobster tail takes it to a whole new level with a whiff of chefy intervention worthy for special occasions.

The critical steps include:

Par-cook the lobster which involves not so much cooking the lobster than removing the lobster meat from the shelf. The brief blanching in boiling water (with a little vinegar) should take about a minutes or two. After releasing the lobster tail from the shell, the meat can be refrigerated until you’re ready for the final cooking.

Poach lobster tail in a butter emulsion. Whisk butter bit by bit into a few tablespoons of simmering water or other liquid like wine or stock, if you prefer. The butter can also be infused with herbs or spice. Then put the lobster meat in the butter emulsion and allow it to cook gently at low heat for five to six minutes, depending on size. Do not allow it to boil. The lobster should emerge glistening and lush-textured from the butter bath.

Serving the lobster with rainbow carrots, peas and fennel is my simple finishing choice. However, there is no strict rule with which to pair the lobster tail. ”I’ve always liked pairing lobster with leeks and beets, and think I’ve found the perfect interpretation,” Thomas Keller said. Chefs around the U.S. have taken the butter-poached lobster tail further with morels, leek ragout, seared foie gras, black-truffle vinaigrette and truffle-riesling sauce. The sky is the limit!

Print Recipe

French Laundry Techniques for Cooking Lobster

Ingredients

Lobster tails or whole lobster (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 lb)
butter
fennel
peas and carrots
zest of a lemon

Instructions

Steeping the Lobsters:

Place lobsters in a tight fitting container. Cover with cold water to determine how much you will need. Drain off the water, measure it and place the water in a large pot. Bring the water to a boil and add 1 tbsp of white distilled vinegar to every quart of water you are using.

After the vinegar is added, pour the boiling liquid over the lobsters and let them steep for 2 minutes (3 minutes for 2 pound lobsters). Reserving the water, use a pair of tongs to remove the lobsters from the water. Place them on a sheet pan with sides or a board placed over the sink; it is messy to disassemble the lobsters.

Using a towel or rubber gloves to help hold the hot lobster, grasp the lobster's tail, twist and pull the tail, to detach it from the body. Reserve the bodies.

Removing the Meat:

For the tail, hold the tail flat and twist the tail fan to one side; pull off and discard. Use your fingers to gently push the meat through the tail end, and pull the meat out through the large opening. Discard the tail shell. Lay the tail meat on its back and cut lengthwise through the middle. Remove the vein running through the top of the meat. Lay the finished pieces on a sheet pan lined with paper towels.

Completing the Cooking Process:

Before the lobster is put in its pot, butter is whisked bit by bit into a few tablespoons of simmering water or other liquid like wine or stock, so its milk solids do not separate as they would if the butter were melted on its own. The butter can be infused with spices and other seasonings.

For three one-and-a-half-pound lobsters, Mr. Keller uses nearly a pound of butter. The lobster meat is allowed to cook slowly in it for five to six minutes.

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Place lobster pieces in single layer in a large saucepan or sauté pan. Add remaining emulsified butter. Lobster meat should be just about covered.

Thomas Keller's technique of butter poaching loads the flavor of butter into the lobster and cooks it so slowly and gently that the flesh remains exquisitely tender. Infusing lobster with butter in the cooking method itself is very versatile.

Once the initial lobster-butter connection has been made, you can add many different garnishes: beets and leeks, peas and carrots, figs, foie gras.