Expat Cookbook: Spiced Lobster Soufflé

When I plan a dinner for friends with sophisticated palates decidedly fond of the king of crustaceans, I dust this recipe out of my treasure trove of time-tested dishes bearing my signature twists and fusions to serve as a winning appetizer for five, for the complex depth of flavours embedded within this soufflé’s deceptively light texture requires sacrificing the life of only one small fresh lobster!

Ingredients:

1 X 600g lobster, steamed for 10 minutes till its whole shell turns red, cooled, cleaned, and meat removed and chopped

70g 36-months-aged Cheddar cheese, grated

35g salted butter

25g plain flour

225 ml milk

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp fennel seeds, ground down in a spice mill

Generous pinch of chilli powder

2 dried lemon myrtle leaves, stalks removed and ground down in a spice mill

2 anchovy fillets, removed from their olive oiled tin and finely minced

½ large lemon, juiced

5 eggs, yolks and whites separated

Salt

Cracked black pepper

Extra salted butter, softened

Parmesan cheese, finely grated

1.75 l boiling hot water

Instructions:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, and stir in the flour till a smooth paste forms.
2. Keeping the saucepan heated, gradually stir in the milk till the sauce thickens.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the paprika, fennel seeds, chilli, lemon myrtle, anchovies and Cheddar cheese.
4. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time.
5. Stir in the lobster meat and lemon juice; seasoning to taste.
6. Preheat the fan forced oven to 180⁰C.
7. Whisk the egg whites till they form stiff peaks when you lift out the whisk.
8. Gently fold the whisked egg whites thoroughly into the lobster mixture, 1 ladle at a time; making sure to retain as much air in the whites as possible.
9. Use the extra butter to generously grease the base and sides of 5 ramekins, and evenly coat over by generously sprinkling with Parmesan cheese.
10. Place the ramekins into a roasting tray.
11. Evenly spoon the soufflé mixture into the ramekins.
12. Pour hot water into the roasting tray until the water level sits 2/3 of the way up the outsides of the ramekins; bathing them in a water bath.
13. Place the roasting tray into the oven for 30 minutes, until the soufflés are well risen and nicely brown.
14. Serve immediately.

Serves 5