Why it works: Lemon and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,227 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Broiled Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Begin at the mouth of the lobster and split it through the body and tail with a sharp knife.
Open the lobster and remove the liver, stomach, and intestinal vein.
Brush the lobster well with melted butter.
Broil and serve
Place the lobster on the broiler, flesh-side up, and broil for 10 minutes.
Turn the lobster shell-side up and broil for an additional 8 minutes.
Serve with melted butter and sliced lemon.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Lobster + lemontop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,100 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster
- Its flesh sets and turns opaque as the heat firms its proteins.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat and moisture that keeps the lobster meat from drying out under the broiler.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich flavour of the butter and lobster.
The step that matters
Turning the lobster shell-side up. Flesh cooks fastest directly under the broiler, so the meat can dry out or overcook before the shell side finishes. Brushing with butter and watching the time helps keep it juicy.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, butter):
- Coconutfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Vanillafits about as well
- Applefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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