Welcome to 3AW. Skip directly to: Search Box, Section Navigation, Content.

3AW - Fairfax Radio Network

Thursday May 17, 2012

What we're talking about

China lobster ban to drop local price

Posted by: 3AW Radio | 30 November, 2010 - 8:33 AM
Lobster Roll

Share

There's turmoil in Australia's rock lobster industry following an apparent import ban by China.

Up to 80 per cent of our catch is usually sent to China and the recent embargo has seen prices for lobster plummet.

Rodney Treloggen from the Tasmanian Rock Lobster Association has told 3AW Breakfast says low quotas means the industry relies on high prices and it's been left reeling.

RELATED AUDIO:

The lobster ban detailed on 3AW Breakfast

BOB HART'S 'LOBSTER ROLLS' RECIPE:

I love quirky American recipes - the things they do best. I have covered fried chicken and chicken-fried steak, both of which are brilliant, and both from the south. But today, a recipe from New England which is also improbable, and brilliant. It requires a leap of faith on your part but … trust me. You will be amazed.

Lobster rolls, traditional East Coast fare, are finding they way back into fashionable Manhattan restaurants, which is surprising. But with southern rock lobsters popping up in the shops here from time to time – expensively, of course – this is a recipe worth trying. You will not regret it. And if you hesitate to spend close to $40 a kg on cooked lobster, try it with crab or even prawns.

Prepare the lobster by removing the tail, carefully, and cutting up the middle of the underside with kitchen scissors. This will let you lift out the tail meat. Split this lengthways and lift out the vein. Then, cube, into 2cm (roughly) squares. A small lobster (less than 500g) will provide enough meat for two lobster rolls.

Finely slice a stick of celery, crossways, and add to the lobster. Mix 1tbs natural yoghurt (I use Jalna) into 2tbs Best Foods or Hellman’s mayo. It is important to use American (or Canadian) bottled mayo to get the genuine, Maine flavour – home-made is delicious, but not as authentic for this dish, strangely. Add a squeeze of lemon, some fresh pepper and fold through the lobster meat.

Now, the act of faith: Buy a pack of those flimsy hot-dog (elongated) buns sold in supermarkets, usually in packs of six: they are cheap so you can dump the leftovers. Melt a generous knob of butter in a sturdy pan and, when it has stopped foaming, add two of the rolls, bottoms down, for for a minute or so. Turn first to onto one side, then the other, for additional one-minute sears. Finally, turn upside down and fry the tops of the buns. The effect will be to turn all sides golden and crisp up the exteriors until they are a bit like puff pastry. It also heats them through.

Holding the buns steady with tongs, on a board, slice them, lengthways, but from the top down, and not right through. Prise them open and pack with the lobster salad. Sprinkle with sweet paprika and eat while the rolls are still warm. And be amazed!

Breakfast with Ross and John

Ross and John Ross Stevenson and John Burns entertain listeners with their razor sharp wit and oddball humour every morning. And every day the best segments of their on-air - and sometimes off-air - program are published on 3AW.com.au.

Blog comments Your Say

  • I would usually get Lobster once a year due to inflated prices so yippee..the rock lobsters will hopefully be on my plate more if there is a price reduction yippee for our tummies and a win for the true lobster lover.

    Fiona Tuesday 30 November, 2010 - 10:41 PM

  • China rejecting our Lobsters wouldn't be the beginning of something more sinister, and involving North and South Korea. Would It?

    janet page Tuesday 30 November, 2010 - 6:46 PM

  • Pierre @ 1.22pm, please smell the roses. Australia does not want NZ apples for two reasons. One the pre-existing fire blight cannot be removed from apples and will impact Aust apple orchards AND secondly the fire blight will over a period of several years infect and KILL all Australian pear trees. Every suburban house that has a pear tree will no longer have one.
    BioSecurity in Australia is under pressure from the supermarket duopoly to allow the NZ apples in and it rolled over 6 years ago and has again rolled over. This time it has simply covered it corrupted tracks as it learned from last time when two HeraldSun journalists caught it disingenuously pretending to undertake an assessment.
    As for the Chinese and the crayfish, if you bothered to stay informed and not let your gums flap you would be aware the Chinese stopped the importation because its import tariffs were being evaded.

    Paddy Tuesday 30 November, 2010 - 3:53 PM

  • Reading in the Sun that Southern Coast of Auss are selling Lobsters , $45-to as low as $20.00 each, if thats the case it would be cheaper to fly over there and bring back a bag load. Why are we paying $70.00 a head.

    janet page Tuesday 30 November, 2010 - 3:39 PM

  • Time to run to the money markets to see the why of it all.....

    Denis Tuesday 30 November, 2010 - 2:44 PM

  • so why do you guys not want NZ Apples and are doing your best to stop them coming in. Excuses for not allowing our apples into Australia since Adam was a Cowboy have been dismissed as farcical by the WTO and scientists. Fairs Fair ockers. NZ and South Africa lobsters are still allowed into China, so clearly, you've p---ed China off somehow.

    Pierre Tuesday 30 November, 2010 - 1:22 PM

Post a comment * Mandatory fields