Lobster in A Hot Ginger Sauce

It feels just like yesterday when my parents departed for their annual trip to Vietnam last January. They just came back and I decided to invite them over and prepare them their favourite homemade dish, lobster in a savoury hot ginger sauce. My parents could never get tired of Asian food. After all, they were in Asia for the last 4 months, but they're not like my brother and I who have grown up in North America and who would sometimes crave for a nice hot pizza or a juicy hamburger.

This morning, I woke up really really late, around noonish. It was drizzling outside and the sky was dark. Knowing this, my parents knew that the best time for them to come over was early afternoon. I dragged myself out of bed, cleaned the place a little and started to cook. In no time, the dish was ready. I just needed to take a nice long shower and really wake myself up. Just to say that I'm so used to making this dish that I can prepare it half asleep and still make it a damn tasty one!

I would normally preprare this dish with fresh lobster, but since it's not lobster season yet and I feel extremely lazy these days, I opted for the canned frozen and already cooked lobser meat. What a great alternative it was! I simply rinsed it in luke warm water and lemon juice. The meat was still very plump and juicy and I didn't have to go through the hassle of cooking a fresh one, then cracking the shell open to pull out the meat, especially when I am feeling lazy. It was so easy. But when lobster season comes, in about a month, I'll be cooking fresh ones in the many different ways I know of - grill, steam, sitr-fry. You name it.

Preparation time: 15 minutes, Cooking time: 15 minutes

Recipe "au pif":
1 lb lobster meat (fresh or frozen)
3/4 lb ground pork
4 tbsp fresh ginger, finely minced
4 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
3 red chilis, seeded and finely sliced lengthwise
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce (nuoc mam or nam pla)
1 tbsp black bean paste2 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp oyster sauce2 cups water
1 handful chopped scallions to garnish
2 tbsp canola or peanut oil

*if using fresh lobster, either steam or boil it to cook the meat. Crack the shell open to remove the meat and set meat aside. Disard shells.
If using frozen already-cooked lobster, like I have, rinse the lobster meat in luke warm water and lemon or lime juice. Strain and pat dry with paper towel and set aside. The hardest part is done.*
Heat oil in a large wok or deep large sauce pan on high heat for about 2 minutes

Add in the minced ginger and garlic and stir for about 2 minutes. Make sure not to over cook the garlic.

Add the sliced chilis and give it another good stir for about 1 minute.

Now add the ground pork and break it apart with your wooden spoon to make sure that the meat doesn't turn into patties. You want the meat to evenly cook in small pieces.

Mix the soya sauce and fish sauce in a small bowl then pour the sauce into the meat mixture then stir for about 2 minutes.

Add in the lobster and stir for another 2 minutes.

Mix the cornstarch, oyster sauce and water in a small bowl then pour the whole mix into the pork-lobster mixture. Stir for another 2 minutes.

Cover and let it simmer for about 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens and is bubbly.

Garnish with fresh chopped scallions and serve with steamed jasmine rice.
Serves 4-6 people.

Share and enjoy!