Yakitori Lobster with Ponzu Mayonnaise

Image | Mike Searle © Copyright | Cornwall Good Seafood Guide

Recipe by

St. Enodoc Hotel

The St Enodoc Hotel. Brasserie & Fine Dining.

Chef

Guy Owen

Website

https://enodoc-hotel.co.uk/

Ingredients

Guy Owen of St Enodoc Hotel, Rock, presents an exquisite Japanese recipe combines flamed Cornish lobster with a Yakitori marinade, and an intense citrus Ponzu mayonnaise. Guy says, "When cooking with lobster, it is crucial to keep the dish as simplistic as you can, so you don’t lose the delicate flavour of the fish. This is a special treat that takes time to prepare but will not fail to impress and makes the most of fantastic, sustainable, Cornish, pot caught lobster."

Fresh Cornish pot caught lobster

For the Yakitori marinade

250ml soy sauce (gluten free)
250ml mirin
125ml sake
125g castor sugar
1 chilli
3 cloves garlic
½ bunch of coriander

For the Ponzu

90ml lime juice
30ml orange juice
30ml rice vinegar
30g light brown sugar
80ml mirin
80ml soy sauce
A pinch of black pepper

For the Ponzu Mayonnaise

500ml Helman’s mayonnaise (or home made is even better if you have time)
300ml Ponzu

For the Garnish

3 Finely sliced radishes, Nori strips cut fine

Method

Cooking time: 1 hour 20 mins at a relaxed pace.

To make the Yakitori marinade;

Add the soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar and heat to dissolve sugar. Cool, blend in other ingredients. (This can be refrigerated and kept for up to one week).

To make the Ponzu;

Simply blitz the ingredients together. (Once made this can be kept in the fridge for up to 9 weeks)

To make Ponzu Mayonnaise

Mix 500ml Helman’s mayonnaise with 300ml of Ponzu, whisk together.

How to cook the Lobster

First you must humanely kill the lobster – see our How to guide on the Cornwall Good Seafood Guide website for instructions.
Remove the claws and cook them separately to the body. Bring a pan of water up to a gentle simmer. Put the claws into the water and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the body and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and then leave under a gently running tap to cool for 10 minutes. (don’t use iced water- this makes the meat stick to the shell).
Crack the lobster meat out of the shell carefully. Marinade the meat in the Yakitori for 2 hours.
Put the claw meat onto a skewer and the tail meat onto a separate skewer. Barbeque over flames for 2 – 3 minutes (1 -2 minutes each side) this results in the Yakitori caramelizing and taking on a subtle smoky flavor.
To plate the lobster, carve the lobster tail into 5 pieces and season lightly with sea salt. Arrange neatly into the centre of a warm plate. Zig Zag some ponzu mayonnaise, fairly liberally, over the lobster meat. Garnish the top with plenty of fresh sliced radish and some nori seaweed sheet, drizzle with Yakitori marinade.

Lobster

Gill Netting

Cornish waters

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Gill netting using monofilament nets is far less selective and has more issues with by catch of non target species such as rare sharks, skates and cetaceans.

Potting

Cornwall

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Pot caught lobster is the best choice. Potting is a selective, low impact fishery and there are many local bye-laws that protect the stocks of Lobster.