How to Boil Lobster Tails

Boiled lobster tail is probably one of the best dishes on the table. Sprinkle some herbs, drizzle lemon juice on top and serve with melted butter, boiled lobster tail will be a perfect dish. This dish is also very easy to make at home. With just a few cuts through the shell and a few minutes of boiling, you’ll soon have delicious lobster for dinner.

Table of Contents

Ingredient

Water
Butter
Salt
Parsley or basil
Lobster tail

Defrost Lobster Tails

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Look for fresh or frozen lobster tails at your grocery or seafood store. Unless you live in an area where fresh-caught lobster is available in a supermarket, you can buy lobster at specialty markets or high-end food stores. The fresher the lobster, the better, but frozen lobster tails are still delicious.

Avoid buying lobster tails packaged with sodium triphosphate. This chemical makes shrimp heavier and thus more expensive by weight. ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Thaw frozen lobster tails in the refrigerator for 8-10 hours before serving. You can leave the shrimp in its packaging. Lobster tails must be defrosted completely so that the shrimp meat does not stick to the shell and the shrimp will cook more evenly when boiled. ^{[2] X Research Source}

If you don’t have time to defrost in the refrigerator overnight, you can soak the lobster tails in cold water for at least 30 minutes.

Wash lobster tails in cool water. Use your hands or tongs to hold the shrimp under the tap and wash all sides. After you have washed the shrimp, you can dry it with a paper towel or wait for it to dry before processing. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

This step helps prevent impurities on the shrimp shell from contaminating your food. Lobsters live on the bottom of the sea and can pick up debris and debris.

Use kitchen scissors or a knife to cut down the center of the lobster’s tail. You should cut lengthwise down to the tip of the tail. Try to avoid slicing the shrimp so that it doesn’t break apart during boiling. Pull the shrimp shell up while cutting so that the scissors do not come close to the shrimp flesh.

Kitchen scissors are a safer option than a knife, as you’ll have to hold the blade up to cut the shells.

Use two thumbs to separate the tails along the cut line. The cut will make it easy to remove all the shells along the center of the tail. Leave the meat inside the shell for cooking and serving.

Boiled Lobster Tails

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Place a large pot of water on the stove. Fill the pot 2/3 full with water to prevent the water from overflowing. The size of the pot will depend on the number of lobster tails you plan to boil. For 230g lobster tails, the rule is to use 350 ml of water for each tail.

You can also boil lobster tails in batches instead of boiling them all at once.
You can add 1-2 tablespoons (15ml-30ml) of salt to the boiling water to increase the boiling point of the water; This will make the water boil more slowly.

Bring the water to a strong boil. Turn the heat to high so that the water boils quickly. Although you will then reduce the heat, the water should boil vigorously when you start adding the lobster tails.

Drop the lobster tails into the water. Use tongs to place the tails into the pot, making sure they are all completely submerged in the water. Remember to leave space between the tails. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Be careful not to splash the boiling water on you or someone nearby. Put the shrimp tails into the pot one by one to prevent the water from splashing.

Turn the heat down to medium or medium high. While boiling the lobster tails, keep the water boiling just above the simmer instead of boiling. Thus, the tail will be fully cooked before separating from the shell.

Boil shrimp for 1 minute for every 30g. Most lobster tails need to be boiled for 5 to 12 minutes to fully cook. Water may start to boil out of the pot if the heat is high and the pot is full. If boiling water comes out, turn down the heat.

Use a fork to poke the shrimp. The lobster tail is cooked when the shrimp meat is white and has a soft texture. The shrimp shell will be bright red and look almost detached from the meat.

Don’t take the shrimp out of the pot if it’s undercooked. It is important to boil.

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Place lobster tails in a basket or sieve. You can use kitchen tools to remove the lobster, such as a slotted spoon or tongs. Anything that can gently remove the tail of a lobster without causing the meat to separate from the shell will do.

You can pour the lobster into the basket to drain the water if you want.

Clean up the lobster

Cut the tail lengthwise into two halves for ease. Lobster meat will be easier to eat if it is already cut down in the middle. If you already have a cut, that’s usually enough for one person to eat, but it’s a good idea to cut it off completely to make it easier to stick your fork in. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Butter the lobster tails. A classic option to enhance the flavor of lobster is to eat with melted butter, served on its own or spread over the tail. Use an oil brush or fork to spread the butter in a thin layer over the shrimp.

You can make a clear butter sauce, which means melted butter and strained through cheesecloth or skimmed off excess fat. This is a very popular dipping sauce for seafood such as lobster.

Squeeze lemon over lobster. Lemon will add sourness to the greasy shrimp meat. If you plan to serve shrimp with lemon, you can squeeze lemon over shrimp or cut lemon into slices for guests to squeeze themselves.

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Choose herbs for the dish. Parsley and basil are traditional choices for lobster dishes. Garnish the lobster plate with herbs if you are going to serve it with herbs. The combination of avocado, lemon and herbs will create a delicious taste that everyone must recognize.

Cut shrimp meat to use in other dishes. Once the lobster has been cooked in a simple way, you can use shrimp meat in almost any recipe that calls for lobster meat. If you plan to use lobster meat in another dish, do so immediately, as boiled lobster tails will not preserve as well as frozen. ^{[6] X Research Source}

Advice

You can also present the lobster dish in the style of “mother carrying baby”. Use kitchen scissors to cut through the top center of the shrimp shell. Slice the shrimp halfway along the center line. Pull the shrimp tail through the cut hole in the shell and leave the shrimp meat above the shell. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

Things you need

Pot
Fork
Kitchen knife or scissors
Baskets
Spoon with hole or tongs