Lobster Rolls
Paying tribute to the king of sea meats the New England way: Lobster Roll on a homemade squishy bun.
Ingredients
LOBSTER ROLL FILLING:
- 600 g lobster meat, two 2-2.5lb whole live lobsters
- 120 g mayonnaise
- 20 g chives, minced
- 10 g kosher salt
- 4 g black pepper, ground
- 1 lemon, zested
- 15 g lemon juice
BUN: Makes 10 buns I HIGHLY recommend using measurements in grams to make this recipe. Volumetric measurements are less accurate.
- 200 g warm water, 86°F/30°C
- 70 g sugar
- 1 large egg
- 75 g melted butter + extra for brushing, not hot
- 8 g instant yeast
- 15 g dough conditioner
- 150 g riced baked potato
- 625 g all purpose flour
- 12 g kosher salt
- egg wash, 1 egg + splash of water
- melted butter, to brush on top
MAYONNAISE:
- 1 large egg
- 20 g water
- 25 g white vinegar
- 5 g kosher salt
- 325 g neutral oil, i like light olive oil
Instructions
LOBSTER ROLL FILLING:
- To cook the lobster, freeze the lobsters for 15 minutes.
- Add a generous amount of salt (about 3 handfuls) and 2 halved and juiced lemons to a large pot of water and bring temp to 185°F/85°C.
- Add "chilled" lobsters to the pot and poach for 8-9 minutes for large lobsters or closer to 6 minutes if using smaller lobsters. When done, the internal temperature of the tail meat should read 150°F/65°C. Remove from the water and allow to cool. If using lobster tails, cool in an ice bath.
- Remove meat from shells. Cut meat into large rustic chunks and place in bowl. Add mayo, chives, salt, pepper. Lemon zest & juice. Gently stir to combine.
BUN:
- Add ingredients to mixing bowl and mix with dough hook on medium speed for 8-10 minutes. The dough will look loose at around 4-5 minutes before it comes together into a nice ball that's no longer extremely sticky.
- Use a soaking wet hand and a grab and round in a 10 & 2 motion to tuck the dough into a taught ball. Cover and ferment at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, the dough should have gassed up quite a bit. Aggressively de-gas the dough so that you can perform a strength building fold. To perform a strrength building fold, pull a side of the bread up into the air until you meet resistance and then fold it into the center of the dough. Repeat this with each edge of the dough until it looks like it's starting to look round (about 4-5 times) and flip it over to where the seem side is on the bottom. After the strength building fold and another 10-2 rounding, cover the dough again and allow to ferment at room temp for another 30 minutes.
- After the second 30 minute fermentation, the dough will have risen significantly. Aggressively de-gas it. Divide into ten, 150g pieces. Pre-shape each into loose round balls by dragging the ball along the table with the side of your hand until surface tension is created on the surface of the dough. do this until the dough forms a ball shape. Cover with a towel and rest for 10min.
- After resting, shape the buns. press the dough flat with your hands and then roll it into itself to where it looks like a cigar. Lightly roll from the center out with your hands to lengthen and create some more surface tension on the roll.
- Line each up on a parchment lined half sheet tray, cover, and proof at room temp for 60-90 minutes. Buns should have doubled in size and spring back when poked.
- Brush each with egg wash (1 egg with splash of water).
- Load into a preheated 400°F/205°C oven, spritz oven with 12-15 squirts of water and bake for 15-17 minutes.
- Brush with melted butter.
- Perfect Burger Bun Video
If you are unfamiliar with making bread from scratch, I highly recommend you watch the video linked above to familiarize yourself before continuing.
Here is another more in depth video to show you how to shape dough!
MAYO:
- Place ingredients except oil into a high sided container and spin with an immersion blender to combine. Slowly stream in oil while blending. Use a regular food processor if you don’t have an immersion blender.
PUTTING IT TOGETHER:
- Spread butter on sides of roll and toast until golden brown. Cut bun top down, line with lettuce, and load with generous portion of lobster salad. Garnish with black pepper and minced chives.
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