Crustaceans (II): Lobsrers 甲殼類 (II): 海戰車和龍蝦

In this blog, I am going to introduce the "star" of the crustaceans, the lobster. It is interesting to state here that in Arabic here, the lobster is called "Um al Rubiyan", meaning the mother of the prawn. The coast of the western Arabian Gulf is mostly sandy and muddy, and therefore, it is rare to catch "rock lobster" in the wild. Presently some concrete breakwaters have been deployed to create "corniche" place for local residents. The crevices between breakwaters might be suitable habitats for the rock lobsters, as they did in Taiwan, but so far I have never seen or heard that rock lobsters are caught there. Although the rock lobsters are available in some local retail markets, they are (as per the fish salesperson) imported from rocky area, such as Oman, or the Red Sea.

在這一篇文章，來介紹甲殼類的明星: 龍蝦。有趣的是，在這邊阿拉伯文龍蝦稱為"Um al Rubiyan"，蝦子的媽媽，也顯示阿拉伯人的幽默。通常龍蝦喜歡棲息在礁岩的縫隙中，但阿拉伯灣西側基本上都是沙泥灘，所以幾乎都不會看到龍蝦出現。近幾年沙烏地政府改造沙灘，在海邊放置許多人造石頭並建成海岸公園供居民遊憩。因此這些人造礁岩的縫隙，可能增加一些龍蝦類的潛在棲地，就如同台灣有釣客會在消波塊的縫隙中找到龍蝦。但是至少目前為止，我都沒有在這邊聽到在人造礁岩中發現龍蝦的案例，可能還少了什麼因素吧。雖然在當地魚市場偶爾可看到長鬚的龍蝦，但是幾乎都可以確定是來自國外的進口貨，可能是南邊的歐曼，也可能是來自於紅海那側吧。

Rock lobster from local retail market, possibly imported from Oman.

這邊市場上買得到的"真"龍蝦，應該是從阿曼進口的舶來品。

The most common lobster in the Western Arbaian Gulf, Sand lobster Thenus orientalis

阿拉伯灣西岸最常見的龍蝦，沙龍蝦(海戰車, Thenus orientalis)

Take two sand lobsters for a try

拿兩隻來嘗試看看

Simply wrapped in the alum foil and roasted in the oven. They are more being steamed.

用鋁箔紙包好後直接放進烤箱烤。因為包起來烤，所以反而比較像是用蒸的。

More lobsters. This time add they are roasted with some salt.

更多的龍蝦。這次加點鹽烤。

It seemed that they were in the oven for too long. The meat was better but also drier. It is OK, just like a bigger bite of a prawn.

加鹽烤有比較好。可惜好像烤太久了，肉有點乾。吃起來...就像是比較大塊的蝦肉，是不錯啦，但如果便宜一點就更好了。

Trying another way. I made the stock from the head and the carapace.

換另外一種做法，先將蝦頭和殼用水煮出蝦高湯。

They I made a lobster pasta with the stock. A more luxury version, but without one key ingredient...

取出來的蝦肉，就和蝦湯一起做成鮮蝦義大利麵。可惜就是少了一味..

Another try. This time I cut them in half.

更多的龍蝦。這次對切

Adding some flour on the meat side, and frying them in the pan. This time was better.

在肉的切面撒上麵粉，在平底鍋用油煎熟。這次就不錯，看起來就很奢華。

More lobsters. 

更多的龍蝦。

A feast on lobsters. 

龍蝦大餐

A bigger one in dinner. 

某天的晚餐，一隻大龍蝦

Another lobster species, very rare... 

另外一種龍蝦種類，在珊瑚礁棲息，在魚市場非常罕見!

The gonad of this lobster, quite large in quantity. 

那隻龍蝦的生殖腺，還蠻大量的

The meat was taken, along with the gonad. 

蝦肉生殖腺取出冷凍保存。

I decided to make them a shrimp pasta. I fried chopped garlic with the olive oil, and then put the lobster roll in. 

後來決定做龍蝦義大利麵，將蝦肉和切碎的大蒜和橄欖油一起煎炒。

Done! I should have not added the gonad.... 

做好了! 味道嘛...我不該加生殖腺進去的...

In conclusion, the sand lobsters are an interesting species to try, if the budget is not too tight. It don't appear all year round in the fish retail shops, mostly during the trawling season and caught by a special technique. In some fishing market, at times they are very fresh that the sand lobsters are moving. I think they need better culinary skill to make them out-standing, especially considering their high prices. I will not recommend to have rock lobster here, because they are imported somewhere and usually with lower quality.

沙龍蝦，算是種有趣的物種，有錢有閒可以嘗試一次。在特定的季節，通常是下半年的拖網季節，才會在沙烏地東岸的魚市場偶爾出現。有時候，鮮度相當好，龍蝦甚至還會動。然而，個人廚藝技術太差，目前覺得龍蝦沒有特別好吃，特別考量到它尊貴的價格...我更不會推薦在沙烏地東岸吃岩龍蝦，畢竟都是進口，經過冷凍解凍幾次後，狀況只能說慘不忍睹。要吃那種龍蝦，不如在產地吃新鮮的，比較對得起荷包。