Half Lobster Recipe

Chill lobster

Place the live lobster in the refrigerator or a cooler with ice for 15–20 minutes to calm it before cooking. This makes handling and splitting easier and is standard humane practice.

While lobster chills, bring the cooking liquid to a boil: combine 6 cups water, 2 tbs coarse sea salt, 1 bay leaf and half a lemon in a large pot and bring to a rolling boil over high heat.

Cook the lobster

Once the pot is boiling vigorously, grasp the lobster behind the claws and lower it headfirst into the boiling water. Cover the pot and start timing. For a 1–1¼ lb (450–570 g) lobster, boil for 6–8 minutes. Since this recipe uses half a lobster, if you cook the whole lobster and then split, follow the same timing; if you pre-split and cook a half only, cook 4–5 minutes. The shell should turn bright red and the meat opaque.

Shock and rest

When cooked, immediately transfer the lobster to a bowl of ice water for 1 minute to stop cooking and make handling easier. Remove and let rest on a cutting board for 1–2 minutes until cool enough to handle.

Place the lobster belly-side down on the cutting board. Using a sharp chef’s knife or kitchen shears, insert the tip at the centre of the head and slice lengthwise through the shell down the back, splitting the lobster in half from head to tail. If you cooked the whole lobster and only want one half, discard or reserve the other half for another use.

Remove the tomalley (green liver) and the sac of roe (if present) and discard or reserve according to preference. Remove and discard the thin black intestinal vein running along the tail.

Using a spoon or your fingers, gently lift the tail meat from the shell in one piece and keep it intact in the halved shell for presentation. Crack the claws with a seafood cracker or mallet and extract the claw meat in large chunks. Place both tail and claw meat back into the half-shell for serving.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt 2 tbs unsalted butter. Add 1 tsp minced garlic and cook gently for 30–45 seconds until fragrant but not browned. Remove from heat and stir in 1 tsp fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp finely chopped parsley, 0.25 tsp coarse black pepper and 0.25 tsp salt.

Brush or spoon half of the warm garlic butter over the exposed lobster meat in the half-shell. Reserve the remainder in a small ramekin for serving.

If you prefer a lightly charred finish: place the buttered lobster half under a preheated broiler for 1–2 minutes until the top is lightly golden — watch carefully to avoid burning.

Transfer the half lobster to a warmed plate. Garnish with lemon wedges and a sprinkle of the remaining chopped parsley. Serve immediately with the reserved butter sauce for dipping.