Tôm Hùm Xào Hành Gừng - Lobster with Onion and Ginger

Difficulty: Medium to Hard

Lobster is a specialty in Vietnamese cooking.  You normally only see it during big celebrations and weddings.  Canadian lobsters were on sale for Valentine's Day and I took this opportunity to make this dish for my family to eat.  It is a very simple dish to make with lots of favor.  Unfortunately, these lobsters didn't come with the head, so the "guts" wasn't available to make the sauce a little extra special.

2 - 1.5 to 2 lb Lobster

1 medium onion

1 inch nub of ginger

2 stalk green onion scallion

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp fish sauce

1 Tbsp oyster sauce

1/4 cup broth or water

Clean the lobster.  Remove the head and split down the middle, exposing the "guts" and scoop it into a separate bowl.  Take the claws and with the back side of the knife, hit the claw hard enough to crack the shell but keep the structure of the claw intact.  With a pair of scissors, cut the little legs off the underside of the lobster and cut down the underside to open up the tail and carefully remove the underbelly skeletal structure.  With a knife, cut the tail into segments about 1-inch wide.  Half the onion white onion and slice it and cut the green onions into 1 inch pieces.

In a hot deep pan or wok, heat up enough oil to cover the bottom.  Saute the garlic for a little color before adding the ginger and the "guts".  Toss the lobsters in, cook it until there is a little color and before adding in the broth.  Cover and let cook for about 3 mins.  Add the white and green onions and let them cook for a little before you season it with the oyster and fish sauce.  When you add the sauce, let it cook for a little before you taste it.  You want the flavors to meld together before you make adjustments to it.  You can adjust it with a little sugar if you find it too salty. 

Serve this up with some rice and same sauteed bok choy, ong choy, Chinese broccoli, or snow peas leaves.