Lobster Rolls (Maine Style)

The Maine lobster roll is a celebration of one ingredient.

Why you should cook this

The Maine summer classic, made cold with mayo (not the Connecticut hot-butter version, which is also good and is a different recipe). One whole rock lobster (1.2 kilos, available at the fish market in Sydney’s eastern suburbs or Melbourne’s Queen Vic for forty to fifty dollars), boiled for twelve minutes, plunged into iced water, picked clean, chopped into two-centimetre chunks, dressed with a moderate amount of good mayo (Kewpie or Hellmann’s, never the sweet supermarket stuff), lemon, finely diced celery, fresh chives. Piled into a buttered, toasted top-split brioche bun. Lemon wedge on the plate.

The mayo restraint is the entire technique. Three tablespoons of mayo for 400g of lobster meat is the maximum. The lobster should taste like lobster, with the mayo as a binder, not as a sauce. Toast the buns with butter on the outsides until both sides are golden and crisp; they need the structure to hold the wet filling. Eat the same day. The lobster meat in mayo holds up two days in the fridge but the buns are done at the moment of serving. A glass of cold Sancerre or a Tasmanian sparkling. Crinkle-cut chips on the side, salt-and-malt-vinegar style.

What to drink with it

A cold Sancerre, a Saint-Germain Spritz (our recipe), or a chilled white burgundy. Crinkle-cut chips on the side.

Notes from the kitchen

The bun matters. Top-split brioche or sturdy hot dog buns, butter the outsides, toast on a flat pan until golden both sides. Don’t drown the lobster in mayo. Two tablespoons for 400g of meat is plenty. The lobster should taste like lobster, not mayo. Serve cold from the fridge. Maine style is cold. Connecticut style (hot butter, no mayo) is a different recipe.

The recipe

Lobster Rolls (Maine Style)

No ratings yet

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Servings: 4 serves

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1 fresh rock lobster (about 1.2kg) or 400g cooked lobster meat
• 3 tbsp good quality whole-egg mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 stalk celery, finely diced (optional)
• 2 tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped
• Salt and white pepper
• 4 top-split brioche hot dog buns
• 60 g butter, softened
• Lemon wedges, to serve

Method

 

1. If using whole lobster: bring a large pot of well-salted water to the boil. Plunge in the lobster. Boil 12 minutes for a 1.2kg one.
2. Lift out, plunge into iced water for 5 minutes. Crack and remove all meat from the tail and claws. Cut into 2cm chunks. Refrigerate 1 hour.
3. Combine cold lobster, mayo, lemon juice, celery and half the chives. Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate while you toast the buns.
4. Butter the outsides of each bun. Toast on a flat pan over medium heat until golden, both sides.
5. Open each bun. Pile in the lobster mixture (overflow is the point).
6. Top with remaining chives and a wedge of lemon. Serve immediately.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

You might also like

Recipe

The Proper Aussie Beetroot Burger

Why you should cook this The Aussie burger is the only burger format that openly admits to being a structural disaster. Beef pattie, melted tasty cheese, fried egg,…

Read the recipe →

Recipe

Pork & Cabbage Dim Sims (Aussie Style)

The Australian-Chinese fish-and-chip-shop dim sim. Why you should cook this Dim sims are the Australian-Chinese fish-and-chip-shop classic that nobody outside Australia has heard of and that everyone inside…

Read the recipe →

Recipe · Baking

Vegemite & Cheese Scrolls

Why you should cook this The lunchbox classic that you remember as the highlight of grade four and that, when you make them yourself as an adult, you…

Read the recipe →

Recipe

Savoury Cheese & Bacon Muffins

School lunchbox classic, grown-up version. Why you should cook this The lunchbox muffin that actually holds together. Cheddar, crispy bacon, spring onion, a fold of self-raising and a…

Read the recipe →