Ming Tsai

Recipes

Directions

Preheat the oven to 475° conventional (450° convection).  Heat grill over high heat. Place a large rimmed sheet tray in the oven.  In a large pot of boiling water, blanch the potatoes for 3 minutes. Drain the potatoes well in a sieve and transfer them to a large bowl. Toss with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt. Transfer the potatoes to the hot sheet tray in the oven. Cook for until lightly browned, about 16 minutes. Hold warm.

In the same water, blanch the haricot verts for 30 seconds to a minute, then transfer to an ice bath. Drain them well, toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and reserve.

Meanwhile, freeze the lobsters for a few minutes before working with them to stun them. With a large chef’s knife, halve the lobster down the center beginning at the head and working down to the tail. Remove the claws from the body of the lobster.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, blanch the claws for about 3 minutes. If the lobsters came with seaweed, add the seaweed to the blanching water.  Use a knife or nutcracker to break the claw shells to loosen the claw meat. Remove the claw meat from the shell. Reserve. Remove the knuckle meat and reserve for another use.

To clean the grill, stab the root-end of an onion half with a fork. Oil the cut side and use it to clean and add flavor to the grill, rubbing it directly on the grill grates (or use a grill brush to clean). Using a pastry brush, brush both sides of the tails with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Grill the tail halves for about 2 minutes per side, placing the meat side down first. The meat will be lightly golden brown and the shell will be mostly red when it’s done cooking. At the same time, grill the lemon halves for 2 minutes per side, flesh-side down first.

Make the compound butter: Holding the verbena sprig by the stem, dip into boiling water for 2 seconds, shock in the ice bath. Remove the leaves from the stems and slice them into ¼-inch ribbons. Repeat with the chives, holding them by the ends, then slice into ¼-inch pieces.  In a large bowl, combine the lemon verbena, chives, thyme lemon zest, butter, togarashi, salt, and pepper to taste with a rubber spatula. Reserve.

Transfer cooked potatoes to a large glass bowl and gently toss with the blanched claw meat to finish cooking the meat. Add two tablespoons of the compound butter, the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, togarashi, salt and pepper to taste. Check for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

To Plate: Put the potatoes on a large platter. Place the claws on top. Place the haricot verts on top of the potatoes and top with the lobster tails in their shells. Garnish with verbena and thyme sprigs. Squeeze a grilled lemon over the top.  Serve with remaining compound butter.