Recipe for bisque with lobster and langoustines
Langoustine bisque rhymes with luxury and is something most people only get at restaurants or at fancy parties. However, it is not at all impossible to make it yourself; on the contrary, you will be amazed at how easy it is.
The bisque requires some preparation, and the cooking process is divided into different stages. But it is worth the time, and once you’ve tried it, it’s guaranteed that it won’t be the last time you venture into making a homemade langoustine bisque.
Ingredients
- 16 pcs. Lobster Tails
- lobster shells if you have
- 700 gram White Wine or 1 bottle of white wine
- 400 gram Whipping Cream
- 50 gram Butter unsalted
- 1 can Tomato Puree a small can
- 2 pcs. Carrots
- 1 pcs. Shallots
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1 pcs. Leek
- fennel tops of 1-2 fennel bulbs
- 0.5 bunch Fresh thyme
- 3 pcs. Bay Leaf
- Rosemary in sprigs
- 79 gram Alcohol Whisky, cognac or rum - for flambéing
- Oil for frying
- Salt
- Cayenne Pepper can be omitted
- Lemon Juice
- fennel finely chopped
- Lobster Tails
- red sorrel for garnish
- 184 gram Oil neutral in flavor
- 1 bunch Broad leaf parsley
Instructions
Lobster Bisque:
- Before you start: Place the lobster tails in the freezer for about 20 minutes before you peel them. This makes the meat loosen more easily from the shells and prevents the tails from breaking apart.
- Peel the meat from the lobster tails and remove the vein with a small, sharp knife. Place the tails in a bowl covered with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
- Clean the carrots, onions, and garlic, and cut them into rough chunks. Finely chop your fennel.
- Heat a large pot and add oil - it should be smoking hot.
- Add the shells from the lobster tails to the pot and fry them over high heat for a couple of minutes. Avoid stirring too much; it's important that they are well-fried. Add tomato paste, garlic, thyme and rosemary sprigs, and fry for a few more minutes.
- Now it's time to flambé, so turn off the extractor fan!
- Pour the chosen alcohol into the pot and ignite the contents - stir the shells a couple of times and flambé until the flames die out (be careful when flambéing - the flames will be large)!
- Add white wine, bay leaves, and the coarsely chopped vegetables. Let the soup simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes. It shouldn't go much longer than that, or the soup can develop a slightly bitter taste.
- Strain the soup and pour it into a clean pot. Reduce it further so it tastes intensely of shellfish without being watery.
- Add cream and reduce a bit until you think the bisque has a delicious and creamy consistency (this only takes a few minutes). Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and possibly cayenne pepper (use only a little, it's strong)!
- Just before serving, add the cold, unsalted butter in small cubes and blend the soup with an immersion blender - this gives a beautiful and foamy lobster bisque.
Butter-Fried Langoustine Tails:
- Heat a pan well with a mixture of neutral oil and butter.
- Fry the langoustine tails over high heat for 30-60 seconds on each side. Use a spoon to baste them with the fat from the pan while frying.
- Remove from the heat and sprinkle with a little salt.
Parsley Oil:
- Fill a pot with water.
- Bring the water to a boil and dip the parsley in the boiling water for five seconds.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan to 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Pour oil and parsley into a blender and blend at the highest speed for about eight minutes.
- Strain the parsley oil through a cloth and refrigerate it. Optionally, pour it into a garnish bottle once the oil is cooled. This allows you to arrange the oil in a beautiful pattern over the soup.
- The oil can keep for about a week in the fridge.
Serving:
- Place the warm, fried langoustine tails in the center of four deep plates, preferably with a few herbs for garnish. This could be wood sorrel, fennel tops, dill, or pea shoots.
- Drop dollops of the parsley oil around.
- At the table, pour the steaming hot and foamy langoustine bisque into the plates - this ensures the bisque is properly hot, and it also looks impressive.
Notes
If you use salted butter, it's important not to add salt to the soup before you add the butter. The salt in the butter will salt the dish quite a lot, and if you've already seasoned with salt, you may end up with an oversalted soup. Therefore, it's best to use unsalted butter, as it makes it much easier to control.