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Langouste à la Vanille (Lobsters with Vanilla Sauce)

Langouste à la Vanille (Lobsters with Vanilla Sauce) is a traditional Comorian recipe for a classic dish of roasted rock lobsters served with a butter and vanilla sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Comorian version of: Lobsters with Vanilla Sauce (Langouste à la Vanille).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

35 minutes

Total Time:

55 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : Sauce RecipesSpice RecipesComoros Recipes

This is often described as the national dish of the Comoros that's traditionally made with local rock lobster, though any kind of lobster will do for this dish, as will langoustines. In essence, this is roasted or barbecued lobster served with a creamy vanilla-flavoured sauce. However, to be truthful this is a restaurant dish and the inclusion of French influenced wine (most of the population is Muslem) means it's a dish for foreigners. So, yes, it's a Comorian recipe but not one that most of the native peoples would consume.

Ingredients:

2 live rock lobsters (about 600g each)
1/2 vanilla pod (sliced lengthwise)
115g tender spinach (stems removed)
1 tbsp olive oil
125ml (1/2 cup) white wine
3 medium shallots, peeled and finely diced
115g unsalted butter
1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 onion, sliced thinly
sea salt, to taste
freshly-ground Black pepper, to taste
mustard or red clover sprouts, to garnish

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 220°C. Insert a large roasting tin into the oven so it can heat up with the oven.

Now prepare the lobsters. First pierce the lobsters between the eyes with a sharp knife to sever the spinal cored. Use a hammer or cleaver to crack the claws.

Place the lobsters in the pre-heated roasting tin. Drizzle a little olive oil over them, return to the oven and roast for about 15 minutes until the lobsters turn red. At this point remove the roasting tin from the oven and set aside to cool.

For the sauce, melt two teaspoons of unsalted butter in a saucepan. Use this to fry the shallots over medium heat for about 3 minutes, or until soft. Pour in the wine and vinegar, increase the heat to medium-high and cook for 5 minutes (you want the liquid reduced down to a couple of tablespoons).

At this point take the pan off the heat and work in 6 tablespoons of butter, adding them one at a time and waiting until the butter is fully melted before adding the next tablespoon.

Scrape the seeds out of the halved vanilla pod and add these to the sauce along with the pod. Whisk well to combine then strain the sauce into a clean saucepan, discarding the shallots and vanilla pod. Season the sauce to taste with salt and black pepper then set aside.

Remove the meat from the lobster claws then detach the heads and tails from the body. Slice the tails lengthwise in half and Remove the meat.

Chop the meat into 6mm chunks and place the meat chunks into a container and cover with aluminium foil to keep warm.

Melt a tablespoon of butter in a pan and use to fry the spinach and onions. Cook until the spinach is tender (about 2 minutes). Season the mixture salt and black pepper.

Arrange the greens onto a serving dish, and then place the warm lobster on top of it. Reheat the sauce and pour it over the lobster.

Garnish with tender mustard or clover sprouts and serve.