Indian Style Poached Lobster with Vegetable Couscous and Asparagus

Similar to my last post, this dish was made during the same intro to nutrition class. This day, my professor gave each group a random protein and flavor profile and told us to make something delicious and nutritious out of it. This was really a true test of our creativity and fast thinking skills. My group received lobster and the Indian flavor profile. By the end of the time, we were able to put up, in my opinion, a great dish that flowed well.

We first steamed the lobster until they were about 3/4 of the way done. This only took a few minutes and after, we removed the meat from the shell and set it aside.

Then, we took the shells and built a sauce out of it. We first sweated onions, garlic and shallots until soft. Then, we took chicken stock, coconut milk, the shells, curry powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric, canned crushed tomatoes, and sambal chili paste and brought it to a boil. After letting the flavors marry, we strained the sauce and began to reduce. After it was able to coat the back of a spoon we added chicken glacé (chicken stock reduced 90%) for mouth feel and blended it with 2 ears of roasted corn. After it was done, we reserved some sauce and used it to heat up the lobster for service. This sauce had a great consistency and tasted amazing!

While making the sauce and lobster, we roasted corn whole and made a vegetable “confetti” of finely chopped peppers and corn. After, we boiled the couscous and mixed it with the veggies, curry powder, paprika and turmeric. The couscous turned out delicious and added awesome color to the plate.

The asparagus, though simple, came out really great. We steamed them to the desired doneness, sliced them on the bias, and tossed them with toasted peanuts, cumin, coriander, curry powder and cardamom. The spices gave great flavor and the peanuts added awesome crunch and color contrast.

This dish is delicious and makes a really impressive presentation. This is also a good introductory dish to the Indian flavor profile because it has very minimal spice and familiar ingredients. Definitely should try this at home.