Lobster in Spicy Black Bean, Ginger & Garlic Sauce

June 4, 2025

One of my favorite meals to enjoy is Dim Sum. In years past I made regular treks up to Westminster with chefs and friends for Dim Sum at Seafood Paradise on Sunday morning. No sooner would we sit down, order some ice-cold Tsingtao beers when the carts would come rolling up the table…..immediate gratification!

We would each create our own dipping sauces with chile paste, soy and hot mustard and dig. My favorite dim sum are the Shumai which are steamed dumplings made with a thin wrapper of some kind and filled with pork and shrimp…..great flavor and texture.

In addition to the small dim sum items would order a large plate of style shrimp, lobster or crab prepared with ‘Salt & Pepper style or in a spicy black bean, ginger and garlic sauce.

So I was at my local Gelson’s the other day and there’s a really nice lady who always works the seafood counter who saw me and said ‘’Today’s the last day of our Maine Lobster sale”! I know right away how I was going to prepare it.

Sometime ago I worked up my own version of the black bean sauce but had tucked it away and hadn’t thought about it for years so I dug through my huge collection of recipes, found it and thought I’d share it below. I’d recommend you make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until ready to use.

Making the dish is really easy if you have a wok or large black steel sauté pan which conducts the heat well. Start by sauteing the lobster pieces that have been cleaned with the shells that have been cracked a bit in some grapeseed oil that has a high smoke point. Toss the lobster frequently and when it’s about half way cooked I add some onion, red and green bell pepper and continue to cook until just softened. Then deglaze the pan with a little white wine and add the black bean sauce. Reduce the heat and continue to simmer the lobster in the sauce until cooked through. Pile onto a plate, garnish with diced scallions and enjoy!

Black Bean, Ginger & Garlic Sauce

Ingredients

1/4 cup Grapeseed or canola oil

3 tbs Minced Garlic

3 tbs Minced Ginger

¼ cup Rice wine or sweet sherry

1 cup Chicken stock

1 tbs Oyster sauce

½ cup Black bean sauce

2 tsp Sesame oil

1 tbs Sambal Oelek

3 tbs Sugar

As needed Cornstarch slurry

Instructions

Heat oil in pan and sauté garlic and ginger until softened. Deglaze with wine than add all remaining ingredients. Bring to boil and reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Thicken slightly with slurry