Lobster season in Belize begins on July 1 this year, running until March 1 and the country takes that season very seriously! Go lobstering outside those months and be prepared for a heavy fine if caught. Serve lobster in your restaurant before July 1 and you are shut down. But during the season, it’s a big party, especially on the islands like Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker or one of the coastal towns like Placencia or Hopkins. In Cayo District, where I live, lobster is on all the menus and prepared as many ways as you can think of. We like it with a simple mango salsa and because my husband’s dermatologist saw us scoping out his mango tree with about three dozen mangos underneath it the other day, we have huge, sweet mangos. He insisted.
Ingredients
For the mango salsa:
- •2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- •2 jalapeños
- •2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- •2 large mangoes, peeled, pitted, and diced
- •2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- •1/4 large red onion, minced
- •Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the lobster:
- •8 fresh or thawed Caribbean lobster tails, 140 g (5 ounces) each
- •230 g (1 cup) butter, melted
- •2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- •2 tablespoons minced garlic
- •Hot sauce, to taste
- •Vegetable oil, for the grill grates
Preparation
For the mango salsa: Heat the vegetable oil in a small sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the jalapeños and cook, turning occasionally, until their skins are blistered, about 5 minutes. Transfer them to a plate and set aside until cool enough to handle. Stem, seed, and finely chop the jalapeños. Place them in a medium bowl and add the cilantro, mangoes, lime juice, and red onion. Season with salt and black pepper. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Stem, seed, and finely chop the jalapeños. Place them in a medium bowl and add the cilantro, mangoes, lime juice, and red onion. Season with salt and black pepper. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Place a lobster tail shell-side up on a cutting board. Using kitchen shears, cut lengthwise through the center of the upper shell, beginning at the open end and stopping just before the tail fins so the shell remains intact. Gently pry the shell apart. Loosen the lobster meat from the shell, lift it through the opening, and rest it on top of the shell, keeping it attached at the tail end. Repeat with the remaining tails. Pat the lobster meat dry.
In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, lime juice, garlic, and hot sauce. Divide the mixture between two bowls. Using the butter from one bowl, brush the lobster meat and the cut edges of the shells. Discard any butter remaining in that bowl. Refrigerate the lobster tails for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat a grill to 205°C (400°F). Clean the grill grates and lightly coat them with vegetable oil.Place the lobster tails shell-side down and meat-side up over direct heat. Close the grill and cook, using a clean brush to baste the meat once or twice with the reserved garlic butter, until the lobster is opaque and barely firm, about 8 to 10 minutes. The internal temperature at the thickest part of the meat should reach 63°C (145°F). Serve the lobster tails immediately with the mango salsa.
