Not-really-traditional Lobster Bisque Recipe

[Saviolo]

Lobster bisque is a strange sort of recipe. Traditionally, this rich and velvety soup was thickened using a paste made from crushed rice and the shells of the lobster used to flavour the soup. These days, bisque is more typically thickened using a roux, which is what we've done here (along with the crushed up shells). Also, it does take a little bit of patience and some specialized equipment to make a good bisque. Crushing up lobster and crab shells to thicken the soup requires a pretty decent blender or food processor. We've got a Bamix stick blender which is very serious, but we don't really recommend using an immersion blender for this recipe. It will also definitely require straining, no matter how good your blender or food processor is.

[SergeStorms]

1. A very labor intensive bisque.

But OOOOOOOOOOOOH so good!

I must admit to having a soft spot in my heart for Lobster Bisque, and a soft spot in my stomach as well. I've tried many different recipes (restaurant recipes, I'm by no means a do it yourselfer in the kitchen) some I love, some....not so much. A good Bisque is hard to find, but I just might have to try this one at home. My stomach was rumbling throughout the video.

Thanks for posting, although now I'm probably going to have to travel 30 miles or so to my favorite restaurant where they have a heavenly Lobster Bisque. They're open at 50% capacity, so I hope they still have it on the menu.

[Saviolo]

2. Definitely labour intensive.

It's honestly not super easy to make at home because having a blender or food processor that will break down lobster shells can be tough. You get so much more flavour and thickness that way, though. Frozen lobster tails were on sale, otherwise we might not have done this (things are still locked down here, so I think volume at the grocery stores is down, they likely wanted to get rid of their fresh and fresh frozen seafood as quick as they could).

[elleng]

3. Ditto, re: soft spot,

but I've never made it myself; I just try it when @ 'likely' restaurants!

[Retrograde]

4. I make crab bisque when I can get crabs

lobsters aren't that common around here but we do get Dungeness crabs (the best. IMHO): the recipe I use calls for mashing some crab meat - not shells -with the rice. While I do use the crab shells to make the stock, I don't what they'd add much to the finished product (aside from more calcium). I think the crab shells may be somewhat thicker, though.

[Saviolo]

5. I absolutely adore crab (far more than lobster)

But it's much harder to get around here. There are a lot of recipes for bisque that involve making a paste with the rice and shellfish meat, mostly because it's honestly not that easy to break down shells in a home kitchen unless you have a very serious blender. If you've had amazing rich and thick silky bisque in a restaurant, it is extremely likely that they blended up the shells as well. Blending the shells is also more labour intensive, because you 100% definitely have to strain it after you've done that, or little bits of shell will ruin your day!