Against all odds, an extremely rare orange-brown split colored lobster has been found in Maine. The orange-brown split colored lobster is the 2nd rarest type of lobster in the world, with odds of finding one in the wild being 1 in 50 million. Only the albino lobster rarer than the orange-brown split colored lobster, with the chances of finding an albino lobster sitting at 1 in 100 million. This extremely rare crustacean delicacy arrived at the Pine Point Fisherman’s Co-Op in Scarborough, Maine last week, and already it has all of New England talking about the rare find.
Here are a few pics of the extremely rare lobster, before I get to the part about my favorite lobster roll recipes and the various ways I’d cook up this 1 in 50 million crustacean:
For more info on the 1 in 50 million split-colored orange-brown lobster you can scroll down below, but before we get to that I’d just like to share with you my favorite lobster roll recipe. Technically it’s two recipes, the Luke’s Lobster recipe and the Red Hook Lobster Pound recipe, but I take the two recipes and combine them into one. Aside from the steps/ingredients below, it’s of the UTMOST IMPORTANCE that you go with a top-cut hot dog bun, toast it beforehand, and use a brush to pain that bun with melted butter (lemon or garlic butter) beforehand.
Here are the two recipes for you to pick and choose what suits your tastes best, I prefer almost a complete absence of mayo in favor of lots of butter, garlic, and spices.
Luke’s Lobster Lobster Roll Recipe:
( Serves 4 )
5 pound live Maine lobster (yields 1 lb. of lobster meat)
4 whole Top-split New England-style hot dog buns
2 tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 pound butter (unsalted)
1 whole lemon
3 pinch celery salt
3 pinch oregano
3 pinch black pepper
Step 1: Steam the 5 pounds of lobster for 10-12 minutes, then pick lobster meat (should yield 1 pound of lobster meat).
Step 2: Use top-split New England-style hot dog buns — butter sides of 4 rolls and grill until golden brown.
Step 3: Line inside of hot dog bun with some mayonnaise.
Step 4: Add 1/4 pound of prepared lobster meat, then drizzle a little melted butter on top of lobster.
Step 5: Sprinkle a pinch of celery salt, pinch of oregano, and pinch of black pepper on top of lobster.
Squeeze a little fresh lemon over the lobster roll. Serve.
Red Hook Lobster Pound Lobster Roll Recipe:
3 lobsters
Sea salt
White pepper
Finely chopped celery
Scallions (finely-chopped)
1/4 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
Several stalks of celery
1/2 cup white wine
4 sprigs thyme
Half an onion
Paprika
Country Kitchen Top Split hot dog bun
Butter
Homemade mayo:
Soy oil
Fresh lemon juice
Pasteurized egg yolks
Boil 3 live lobsters for 12 minutes (hardshell) or 8 minutes (softshell) in four inches of saltwater with a couple stalks of celery, 1/2 cup of white wine, about 4 sprigs of thyme, and half an onion.
Chop tail meat into 1″ chunks, remove knuckles and claws whole and refrigerate for 1 hour.
“My homemade mayo is your traditional mayonnaise made with soy oil, lemon juice and pasteurized egg yolks.
Mix the lobster meat with about a quarter cup of mayo – just enough to hold the meat together. You want to do this when the lobster is cold or the mayo will melt. Add 1/2 teaspoon white pepper, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 cup of finely chopped celery. This is your mixture.
Take a Country Kitchen Top Split hot dog bun and brush with butter, then heat on the grill.
Once bun is ready, add in lobster salad mixture, add in 1/4 cup finely-shredded iceberg lettuce.
Top with chopped scallions and a little paprika.”
Now back to the details of the split colored lobster found in Scarborough, Maine. 12WMAZ reports:
According to the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine in Orono, the orange and brown critter is almost the rarest of rare lobsters. Most lobsters, before they are cooked, are dark blue-green or greenish brown, the institute explains. Rare is the blue lobster, as in one in 2 million. A live red lobster, before cooking, is one in 30 million. Then there’s the more rare yellow lobster and the ridiculously rare calico lobster.
And even more rare than all of those is the split-colored orange and brown lobster. It occurs once in every 50 million lobsters, according to the institute. In fact, one oceanarium in Maine that housed such a lobster caught in 2006 said it has witnessed only three such lobsters ever.
The lobster in question is even more rare than the traditional split-colored lobster, which is split down the middle in color. The one found in a tank at the co-op last week has a tail that is split in color, a body that is all brown, one orange claw and one brown claw. Also, most split lobsters have male and female sex organs, but this one is all female.
“There’s probably quite a few genetic mutations that created that type of pattern,” Adam Baukus, scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, in Portland, told WCSH.
“It’s really strange,” co-op warehouse worker Mike Chasse told WCSH.
The only lobster even more rare than the orange and brown one caught last week is the crystal or albino lobster, which has no coloring, the Lobster Institute says.
And because last week’s split-colored lobster is so rare, there will be no butter and garlic, no hungry tourists in its immediate future. “It’s going to the Maine Aquarium at some point,” Bridgham said.
The Maine State Aquarium in West Boothay Harbor features a collection of lobsters, including one that weights 17 pounds.
So, bros, if you found a 1-in-50-million orange-brown split colored lobster (or the even rarer albino lobster) would you eat it? Or would you turn the rare lobster over to science? Answers down below in the comments!
[13 WMAZ via The Press Herald]