Meat Glue – Lobster Hot Dog

The other day I Experimented with meat glue, aka transglutaminase, an enzyme that catalyzes the formation of a covalent bond between a free amine group (e.g., protein- or peptide-bound lysine) and the gamma-carboxamide group of protein- or peptide-bound glutamine. In plain English: something that glues proteins so you can make Lobster Hot dog

Here’s a better look of the infamous lobster hot dog with Claw intact:

The cool thing about making a lobster hot dog is the ease in cooking it! If only nature shelled out amazing perfect cylinder shaped proteins it would make our job much easier to achieve the perfect sear, evenly distributed heat to perfection.

For this experiment I purchased 3 live lobsters from the H-Mart at only $5.99/lb! This is for reals people! Go right now and look it up on google!

So I buy the lobsters and I use the best method to kill a live lobster: Become a Lobster Anesthesiologist! Check out the cooking issues primer on exactly how to do this by clicking on the lobster hot dog claw pic above

I decide I want to use meat glue to achieve a perfectly cylinder shaped lobster protein. My deiscion to do this stems from the fact that I have over 2 pounds of meat glue in my freezer! True story. If anyone of my readers wants a sample please feel free to email me directly at molecularfood@gmail.com. Ok, back to exactly how I did this.

Step 1: Place knocked out lobster in boiling salt water for about 4 min.
Step 2: Take lobster out and ice bath to stop cooking.
Step 3: Take meat out of shell.
Step 4: Prepare a meat glue slurry consisting of 1 part meat glue to 4 parts water.
Note: I use 4 teaspoons of lukewarm water to 1 teaspoon meat glue.
Step 5: Cut lobster meat
Step 6: Brush meat glue slurry all over lobster meat
Step 7: Get cling film (plastic wrap) and prepare to roll lobster meat/meat glue mixture into a hot dog shape.

Wrapping in Plastic Wrap:

Rolling foods in plastic wrap is an excellent preparation technique for low temperature cooking. Rolls cook evenly and are easy to portion. We often combine rolling with some meat glue. Properly rolled roulades in plastic wrap will not allow water to penetrate. Really good rolls are dense –they will sink. Remember –making good rolls isn’t as easy as it looks.

Step 8: Put rolled lobster into a vacuum bag and sous vide.
Step 9: Sous vide for 10min at 95C
Step 10: Remove from water bath and ice bath.
Step 11: Refrigerate overnight.
Step 12: Remove from vacuum bag and unroll the lobster hot dog.
Step 13: Serve whole or slice into small 1in cylinder shapes.
Step 14: Prepare a paprika chili butter mixture.
Step 15: Sear lobster in butter until warm

Serve with brioche bread that is toasted in duck fat and topped with brie cheese. Also serve with lobster consommé, fig jam, and maple bacon.

Here’s a picture of how it looks