How to Shell and Eat A Whole Lobster

let me ask you a question how do you eat a lobster if you just eat the claws knuckles and tail that's not good enough this is daniel gritzer from serious eats and i'm on a mission to get everyone to eat a whole lobster the right way so let's start with the parts that most people are comfortable with the tail and claws pick up the whole lobster and firmly grab the body with one hand and the tail with the other then twist to separate next pull off the claws twisting them right where the knuckles meet the body there are different ways to get the meat out of the tail you can stick a fork into it and try to pry it out but i like to split the shell first i squeeze inwards along its length until it cracks then i pull it in the opposite direction to separate it the meat should pretty much fall right out next separate the knuckles from the claw you can use all sorts of tools to crack the claw shells but most restaurants will give you a nutcracker so that's what i'm using here carefully but firmly squeeze the cracker just below the pincers your goal is to break the shell without crushing the meat within then remove the smaller pincer which you can pop off by prying it open and back and forth to the sides if you're lucky the meat in that little pincer will slide right out but that doesn't always happen which is fine you can shake it out or fish it out with a pick later [Music] sometimes when you remove the smaller pincer a thin hard piece of cartilage will come out with it but if it doesn't you'll need to check the claw meat later to make sure it's not hiding within now break open the claw shell where you cracked it and remove the meat when you're done with the claws turn your attention to the knuckles using the cracker to shatter the shell around each segment then pry them open and pluck out the meat this is where a lot of people quit but not us no there's still a whole body just full of fun stuff to eat so grab that body pull the top shell off lifting from the tail end inside you're going to see a greenish custardy substance that's the tamale and in my humble opinion it's the tastiest part of the whole lobster but it comes with a warning i continue to eat this stuff but you should decide for yourself the lobster's legs are another part worth eating snap each one off then use your teeth to chew the meat out almost like you're pushing toothpaste out of the tube lobster flavored toothpaste finally it's time to attack the bottom half of the body on the outside of it you'll find rows of frilly gills don't eat those they taste pretty gross what you want is inside split the body in half and use your fingers to dig around into each little pocket and crevice pulling out lumps of meat as you go by the time you're done there should just be shell left and not much else it may not seem worth it to go after all those little bits of meat but trust me they add up i mean just look at that pile besides picking should be fun it's a mindless task to visit your hands while you gab with family and friends as the shells pile up around you that's the joy of eating a lobster if you love it as much as i do you won't skip this part [Music] you

Channel: Serious Eats

Views: 2,710,359

Keywords: Serious Eats, food, eating, cooking, food videos, recipe videos, how to eat a lobster, whole lobster, lobster breakdown, lobster, how to cook a lobster, cooking opinions, how to cook right, daniel gritzer, lobster guide, cooking guide, food tips, food hacks, tips and tricks, relaxing food, how to cook, lobster recipe, food science, food techniques, how to cook like a pro, professional cooking, recipe

Id: oWtY4-xDI4E

Length: 3min 50sec (230 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 24 2017