Here is the recipe for Fredrick’s award winning Lobster Dogs, which won the gold medal “People’s Choice” award at the 2008 Lake Tahoe Food and Wine Festival. The lobster tails are dipped into a ginger-leek batter and then deep fried. The dogs are then sauced with spicy red banana sauce, tomatilo sauce, and our house Tsume. The recipes follow.
Ginger-Leek Batter
- 100g Shallots, Sliced (about two large shallots)
- 500g Leeks, both green and white, sliced thin
- 90g Ginger, peeled and sliced thin
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
- 2 tsp Canola Oil
- 10g Salt, Kosher
- 2g Pepper, fine Ground
- 900g Beer, Lager (I use Stella, but any light lager will work)
- 500g Water
- 250g AP Flour
- 180g Rice Flour
- 13g Baking Powder
- 2g Baking Soda
- Start by sweating the shallots, leeks, ginger, salt and pepper over high heat, using the sesame oil and canola oil to lubricate the bottom of your pot.
- Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon until the leeks and shallots are tender but not browned.
- Deglaze with beer and water and simmer for another 5 minutes over medium low heat.
- Blend mixture on high in a strong blender for 2 minutes.
- Cool mixture until its temperature drops below room temperature.
- Whisk in AP flour, rice flour, baking powder and baking soda.
Spicy Red Banana Sauce
- 100g Red Banana Innards (about 2 red bananas)
- 20g Sambal (spicy chili sauce found in Chinese markets)
- 1g Xanthan Gum (aids emulsification without adding flavor)
- 115g Vegetable Stock
- 130g Canola Oil
- Place all ingredients except for oil in a blender.
- Blend for 30 seconds on medium speed until smooth.
- Slowly start to stream in canola oi, working the blender speed up to high as the emulsification begins to form and the sauce starts to thicken.
- Once all the oil is blended into the sauce, blend for another 60 seconds on high speed to combine thoroughly.
- Place in squeeze bottle and set aside.
Tomatilo Sauce
- 275g Tomatilos, about 4 whole
- 8g Garlic, raw
- 2 Limes, juiced
- 228g Vegetable Stock
- 2g Xanthan Gum
- 500g Canola Oil
- Combine all ingredients except for the oil in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Use the same process as above to emulsify in the oil, thickening the sauce in the same process as above.
- Place in a squeeze bottle and set aside.
House Tsume Sauce
This is our house sauce that is used on a lot of our sushi rolls and is also used in some cooking applications. It is very similar to a teriyake sauce, only better.
- 10 Cups Sugar
- 4 Cups Soy Sauce (low sodium Kikoman is what I use)
- 2 Cups Water
- 2 Cups Rice Wine Vinegar
- 2 Cups Mirin
- 2 Each Oranges
- Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pot.
- Cut oranges in half, juice into the sauce pot, and place orange halves into the sauce as well.
- Bring contents of pot to a rolling boil, reduce to a simmer over medium low heat, and simmer for 45 minutes.
- Strain though a fine strainer, and cool in the refrigerator.
Bringing It All Together
- Cut raw lobster tails into 1 oz segments and skewer.
- Dust in rice flour and then coat with Ginger-Leek batter.
- Fry in 375 F oil until they become a crispy golden brown (about 3-5 minutes).
- Sauce a rectangular plate with half Spicy Red banana sauce and half Tomatilio Sauce.
- Place lobster dogs on the Spicy Red Banana Sauce.
- Sauce the lobster dogs on top with Tsume, and garnish with freshly sliced green onions.