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Lobster Chops

A chilled lobster mixture shaped into chops, coated in breadcrumbs and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Lobster and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,050 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Lobster Chops

Ingredients

Directions

Make the lobster custard

  1. In a stew pan, melt the butter until it bubbles.

  2. Sprinkle in the flour and cook for a minute.

  3. Pour in the boiling cream and add the lobster dice. Stir until scalding hot.

  4. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

  5. Stir in the beaten egg yolks, nutmeg, cayenne, and salt. Return the mixture to the heat and stir until the egg is set.

Shape and chill

  1. Butter a platter and spread the lobster mixture to about ½ inch thick.

  2. Chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

  3. Form the chilled mixture into chops, pointed at one end.

Coat, fry and serve

  1. Coat each chop in bread crumbs. Dip each chop in egg. Coat again in bread crumbs.

  2. Fry in boiling lard until golden brown.

  3. Garnish each chop with a lobster claw.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Lobster + creamtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lobster
Provides the main flavor and the bulk of the chop filling.
Butter
Enriches the sauce base and adds richness and flavor.
Flour
Thickens the cream into a smooth base that holds the lobster together.
Boiling cream
Adds moisture and richness to form a creamy mixture.
Egg yolks
Sets with heat to bind the mixture so it holds its chop shape.
Bread crumbs
Forms a crisp, golden coating during frying.

The step that matters

Stir until the egg is set. Egg yolks must be heated gently to thicken and bind the mixture; overheating can curdle them, while underheating leaves the chops too soft to hold their shape.

“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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