Since starting this blog, we often share the story or circumstances behind the birth of our recipes. Sometimes they are iterations of classic dishes, adding our own twist or adjusting to suit Chele’s dietary restrictions. Other times they are born on the fly, intuitively thrown together based on what we have available to us. Many, though, simply start off with Chele or I simply asking the other “What do you think about doing x with y?” They are often vague ideas – maybe just a flavor pairing, or a type of dish made with a particular ingredient. Most of these ideas get jotted down in a running list we keep, waiting for the day that one of us might pick up that kernel of an idea and figure out how to actually make use of it. Sometimes it comes together quickly, but more often it needs to sit and gestate, possibly for years. This was exactly the story of what happened after Chele, for reasons we’ve both since forgotten, asked me “What do you think about a pineapple boat with lobster?”
“Pineapple boat with lobster” was jotted down and sat on the list for at least two years. We would occasionally run across that note and say, “Oh, we need to do something with that”. But whenever it came time to put our shopping list together, “lobster” and “pineapple” just never seemed to find their way on there. What would it take for our pineapple boat to finally set sail?
A sale, it turned out. Shortly before the New Year, as I was transferring the weekly sales flyers that the USPS never manage to lose from my mailbox to the recycling bin, a front-page special for frozen lobster tails caught my eye. For a few days, lobster was selling in my neighborhood for less than chicken or beef. Shortly afterwards, my freezer was well stocked with them. And after telling Chele I had them, she quickly reminded me that we had that pineapple boat idea floating out there. It was finally time to make it… which meant we needed to figure out how! It wasn’t just a matter of cutting a pineapple open and chucking a lobster in there. We needed the rest of the recipe. What else were we going to include? How would we go about cooking it?
I scouted around online to see if there were other recipes out there that we could use as a jumping off point. Most of what I found were effectively making a lobster/seafood salad and just serving it in a hollowed out pineapple – we knew we wanted to roast or bake ours in the pineapple, so those were right out. The few other examples where things were cooked in the pineapple boat were mainly mixed seafood dishes, and included things that just weren’t calling to us (like mixing in tomato sauce, or smothering it in cheese). We were on our own this time, it seemed.
As we ran through our own ideas, Chele (being a perennial lover of Indian food) tossed out a suggestion for making our lobster into a curry. And that’s when the lightbulb finally went up. Sweet pineapple… I thought. Sweet lobster meat… curry… I knew there was a way that worked. It wasn’t an Indian curry I was envisioning, though. I started thinking of ginger. Of coconut. Lemongrass… “Thai curry!” I said back to Chele. “A Thai-style yellow curry”! Her reaction made it instantly clear that we’d figured it out.
Our first attempt saw us scooping out a pineapple, then simmering the fruit in a homemade curry paste. Lobster tails were lightly steamed to help get them out of their shells, then chopped, tossed with the curried pineapple, and then baked in the pineapple shells. We loved the flavor and how perfectly the lobster cooked up, but were disappointed that things came out a bit soupy. There was something missing from it too….
Chele figured that part out. She had some cooked rice in the fridge, so decided to warm some up and toss her curry with it. That little bit of carbohydrate was exactly what it needed. Lobster Pineapple Boat V2.0 followed the next weekend, this time adding a bed of rice inside the pineapple shells (and also taking extra time to make sure the lemongrass was fully pureed, since our first curry paste didn’t come out as smooth as we would have like). Not only did this add that extra dimension that we felt was missing from our first pass, it also solved our “soupiness” issue by absorbing the excess liquid.
We only added a pinch of dried chili to our version since Chele wasn’t up for a lot of heat at the time, but you can easily ratchet up the spiciness if you prefer a hotter curry. Add additional dried red pepper or fresh Thai bird’s eye chilies if you are looking for more heat. We also think a bit of fresh Thai basil would make a nice addition to this dish
We found the amount of filling in each half to be just about right for a single serving, so this recipe is perfect for a dinner for two.
Curried Lobster Pineapple Boat
Ingredients
- 2 lobster tails (about 4 oz ea, thawed if frozen)
- 1 large fresh pineapple
- 1 cup cooked white rice
For the curry:
- 2 shallots
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 stalks lemongrass
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger (about 1 Tbs)
- 2 pieces fresh turmeric (about 2 Tbs)
- 1 Tbs fish sauce
- 1 Tbs shrimp paste in oil
- 1 Tbs whole coriander seeds
- ½ tsp powdered galangal
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- dried red pepper and/or fresh red bird's eye chilies to taste (optional)
- 3 Tbs water (or more, as needed)
- 3 Tbs canned coconut milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a steamer pot, bring 2 inches of water to a boil. Add lobster tails to steamer basket and cook 2-3 minutes. Immediately remove from heat and run under cold water to stop further cooking. (It is OK if the meat is not fully cooked at this point. This step is mainly to make the tails easier to remove from their shells. It will finish cooking when we bake the pineapple boats later). Set aside.
- Slice the pineapple (including the top) in half length-wise. Cut or scoop out the flesh, leaving a shell about ½ inch thick. Set hollowed-out shells aside. Remove the tough core from the pineapple flesh and discard it. Roughly chop the remaining fruit and set aside in a bowl.
- Peel and chop the garlic, shallots, turmeric, and ginger. Remove the outer few layers of the lemongrass. Trim off the tough upper parts of the leaves, and about 2 inches from the bottom of the stalks. Finely mince the remaining parts of the stalks. Combine with all remaining curry ingredients except the coconut milk, and puree in a blender or food processor until a smooth paste is formed (add more water, a little at a time, if needed while blending to achieve the desired consistency).
- Heat a skillet or saute pan over medium heat, and add a little oil (no more than 1 Tbs). Add the curry paste and cook for 2 – 3 minutes. Stir in the chopped pineapple and any juice that has accumulated in the bowl. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat, then stir in the coconut milk.
- Remove the lobster tail meat from the shells. Roughly chop the meat. Divide the cooked rice evenly between the two empty pineapple shells, and pack down lightly to make a level bed. Sprinkle the chopped lobster over the rice. Spoon the pineapple curry mixture evenly between both boats, making sure to completely cover the lobster and rice.
- Wrap the tops of the pineapple in foil, then transfer both boats to a large baking sheet. Place in oven and bake at 400°F for 30 minutes.
- Remove foil from tops before serving.
Notes
- Look for jars of shrimp paste at Asian markets or with other Asian sauces and condiments at larger supermarkets (here in the Chicago suburbs, we buy ours at H Mart and Tony’s Fresh Market). If it isn’t available in your area, you should be able to order it online. A Thai-style shrimp paste is ideal, but other styles will work as well (Filipino brands seem to be the most readily available in the shops near us).
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