Lobster Rolls Claw Away Savings, So Make Your Own

No-fuss recipe for homemade lobster sandwiches, plus a motivational cost-savings analysis.​

Have you ever ordered a SGD $30-40 lobster roll in a restaurant, and later asked yourself, “Did I just pay too much for that?” Sure, the meat of this prestige food is undeniably crunchy and sweet. But the answer is yes. You certainly did.
 
After lobster-rolling my money away several times at a no-frills franchise, I started wondering how much cheaper it would be, and how much work would be needed, to make them myself.
 
Surprisingly, DIY lobster rolls were significantly less expensive, and fun and easy to make. After several attempts, I found making open-top lobster sandwiches with one bread slice to be the simplest way to enjoy this treat.

Cost savings

Each DIY lobster sandwich contains 1/2 of a whole 400g lobster. Each sandwich had around the same amount of meat as a restaurant lobster roll.
 
You can buy brioche rolls to make the actual lobster roll shape, but sliced brioche bread is much cheaper and tastes the same, thus the lobster sandwiches.
 
If you want to make two open-top sandwiches from a single lobster, it take around 40 minutes to cook and clean the kitchen afterwards. That’s savings of S$19.05 x 2 = S$38.10 with 40 mins work.
 
You can get lobsters from Song Fish Marketplace (at S$20 each, or S$17 when on discount), and all other ingredients including low-cost brioche bread from NTUC FairPrice Finest. If you want to use bread rolls, they can be found at Marks & Spencers or certain supermarkets.

Recipe – Lobster Open-Top Sandwiches for 2 pax

Ingredients:
 
1 x 400g pre-cooked, frozen boston lobster
2 x slices of brioche bread (or 2 brioche rolls)
Butter
1 clove garlic (to be grated)
Lemon
Salt and pepper
Mayonnaise
Rosemary (powdered is best)
 
Instructions:
 
Step 1 - Lobster preparation

1. Defrost lobster. After defrosting, boil for 3-4 minutes (it’s actually pre-cooked, but just to be safe…)
2. De-shell lobster’s tail, claws and knuckles according to Gordon Ramsey’s Lobster De-shelling Tutorial
3. When cracking the tail, lobster juices may come out. Make sure to drip them on the meat as they re full of flavor
4. When cracking the claws, juice may come out but this liquid can be quite briny. Only let some of it fall on the meat for taste; too much of this juice may make it overly salty.
5. Chill lobster meat in fridge to firm up the flesh

 
Step 2 – Make lemon butter sauce

1. Grate 1 clove of garlic
2. Add grated garlic and 1 large slab of butter into pan; cook on low heat for 1-2 minutes till it melts
3. Pour mixture into bowl; add salt, pepper, and 20 drops of lemon juice
4. Pour sauce into lobster meat and coat the meat evenly

 
Final step – Pan-fry and prepare bread

1. Butter both sides of the bread; place in pan on low-medium heat and cook for 1-1.5 minutes for each side
2. Remove bread and add mayonnaise on the meat-facing side
3. Add in lobster meat and sprinkle pinches of powdered rosemary.

 
Conclusion
 
Elon Musk saves hundreds of millions DIY-ing space rockets. You too can save a tiny fortune by making simple luxury foods yourself. Have fun!