Ingredients
Lobster
- 2live lobsters, about 700 g each, or 500 g cooked picked meat
Connecticut style, warm
- 100 gbutter
- juice of ½ lemon
- salt
Maine style, cold
- 4 tbspmayonnaise
- 1celery stalk, very finely diced
- 1 tbspchives
- juice of ½ lemon
- salt
- white pepper
Bun
- 4New England split-top buns
- 50 gbutter, softened
To serve
- crisps
- a pickle
Directions
- Work it out with the back of a spoon. Cut the meat into large chunks rather than dicing it.
- Keep the pieces big. For Connecticut, melt the butter and warm the lobster gently in it for 2 minutes with lemon and salt.
- Warm it, never cook it. The lobster is already cooked and a minute too long turns it stringy.
- Use restraint with the mayonnaise.
- Use a New England split-top, which has flat sides and no crust on them.
- Butter the flat outer sides generously and griddle them in a dry pan until deep golden and crisp. A side-split bun cannot do it, and the crisp buttered faces against soft bread are half the sandwich.
- Fill the toasted bun generously and serve immediately, with crisps and a pickle. It appeared on the Connecticut shore in the 1920s and spread up the coast, and Maine and Connecticut have argued about it since.
Technique
- Hard-shell lobster gives firmer meat than soft-shell and is worth asking for.
- It is a summer dish, sold from roadside shacks along the New England coast.
- Overfilling it is traditional and expected.
Substitutions
- Cooked lobster meat from a fishmonger, which is what most home cooks use.
- A brioche hot dog bun, trimmed flat on the sides.
Variations
- Connecticut style, warm with butter.
- Maine style, cold with mayonnaise.
- Made with crab, as a crab roll, which is common in Maine.
History
A sandwich of chilled or warm lobster meat served in a split-top hot dog bun, most strongly associated with the New England coast, particularly Maine and Connecticut, which maintain a long-running and genuine culinary rivalry over the correct preparation: Maine-style lobster rolls are traditionally served cold with mayonnaise, while Connecticut-style versions are served warm with melted butter instead. Its specific bun, a split-top style toasted on its flat sides rather than a standard rounded hot dog bun, developed as a regional New England bread style well suited to holding the lobster filling without falling apart, and became closely enough associated with the sandwich that the bun style itself is now sometimes called a lobster roll bun even when used for other fillings elsewhere in the country.
Frequently asked questions
What is Lobster roll?
Lobster roll is a street food from United States: split-top bun filled with lobster meat, buttered warm or bound with mayonnaise. A sandwich of chilled or warm lobster meat served in a split-top hot dog bun, most strongly associated with the New England coast, particularly Maine and Connecticut, which maintain a long-running and genuine culinary rivalry over the correct preparation: Maine-style lobster rolls are traditionally served cold with mayonnaise, while Connecticut-style versions are served warm with melted butter instead. Its specific bun, a split-top style toasted on its flat sides rather than a standard rounded hot dog bun, developed as a regional New England bread style well suited to holding the lobster filling without falling apart, and became closely enough associated with the sandwich that the bun style itself is now sometimes called a lobster roll bun even when used for other fillings elsewhere in the country.
How long does Lobster roll take to make?
Lobster roll takes 20 min of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 rolls. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Lobster roll?
Yes, within limits. Cooked lobster meat from a fishmonger, which is what most home cooks use. A brioche hot dog bun, trimmed flat on the sides.
What is the most important thing to get right in Lobster roll?
Work it out with the back of a spoon. Cut the meat into large chunks rather than dicing it.
