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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Lobster Mushroom Burbot with Crayfish Butter

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Burbot or lingcod recipe with lobster mushroom crust and crayfish butter (1)Burbot was one of those interesting local fish, like sunnies, crappies and perch that were hard to source through fish purveyors, no one seemed to carry it. Eventually I got to try my first after someone was nice enough to grab me a couple packages from a fish shop up in Cumberland, Wisconsin.

I knew that burbot had been compared to monkfish, kind of, since they both get referrred to with the name “poor man’s lobster”. After trying a couple batches, I almost agree, but I’d say monkfish is much more of a lobster-esque flavor and texture, personally.

There’s a nice meaty-ness to the burbot, and since monkfish definitely isn’t local to me, I made a few fun things with my lingcod (one of it’s other names, along with eelpout and fresh-water ling) and these simple burbot nuggets were the winner. If you don’t like burbot, skip down to the crayfish butter, which you can make with lobster, shrimp, crab, or any crustacean shells you have.

“Poor man’s freshwater lobster”

Here’s the jist of the recipe: my burbot filets were a little on the haphazard / uneven side, so I cut them into bite sized morsels. Keeping with the lobster theme, I ground up some clean, dried lobster mushrooms and seasoned them to make a crispy, tasty dredge, since I love coating any fish in ground lobster mushrooms (poultry is great too).

Dredging burbot or lingcod pieces in a lobster mushroom crust
Tossing some burbot chunks in the lobster mushroom rub.
Dredging burbot or lingcod pieces in a lobster mushroom crust
Toss ’em around well to coat.
Burbot or lingcod recipe with lobster mushroom crust and crayfish butter (1)
Tap off the excess and fry. (I couldn’t tapped off more on mine, can you see it’s migrated off of them in the oil?

In keeping with tradition, there’s a butter element, since anything tastes good dipped in clarified butter. Since I like to clarify the butter to make it clear, it gave me an excuse, and option to force another locally available lobster-themed creature into the mix: crayfish.

Burbot or lingcod recipe with lobster mushroom crust and crayfish butter (1)

Drain the nuggets for a moment to shed oil.

Crayfish, lobster, shrimp or crab shell butter 

This is a great chef secret. I’d just done an event where I used a bunch of crayfish tails for bisque, and since there weren’t near enough heads to make the stock, I had to make the stock with shrimp shells. 

Making crayfish infused drawn butter

Crayfish heads, before they get crushed with a mallet.

Besides stock, ditch lobster heads, or any crustacean shells, pounded and then cooked with butter makes a fantastic infused drawn butter for dipping things in.

I can’t speak to the science of it, but the tasty compounds in any crustacean shell infuse like a dream into fats and oils, an old trick I gleaned from watching a line cook I looked up to playing around one night, back in my Pazzaluna days. The beauty too, is that you only need a tiny amount of crayfish shells to infuse some butter, as a little mudbug goes a long way.

The end dish is really simple, you dredge the burbot nuggets in the lobster mushroom coating, fry them up, then dip in the infused butter. A little fried parsley and lemon wedges add color to the plate and count as vegetables.

Burbot or lingcod recipe with lobster mushroom crust and crayfish butter (1)

Burbot or lingcod recipe with lobster mushroom crust and crayfish butter (1)
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Lobster mushroom crusted burbot with crayfish butter 

Sauteed burbot with a lobster mushroom crust served with crayfish infused butter

Ingredients

  • lobster mushroom rub or substitute ground lobster mushrooms
  • Burbot filets cleaned, trimmed, and cut into bite-sized pieces (other white fleshed fish like whitefish, walleye, or sunfish are great too)
  • Kosher salt as needed
  • Italian parsley optional
  • Crayfish butter as needed, about 1 tablespoon/person
  • Flavorless oil for sauteeing the burbot

Instructions

  • If you want to use fried parsley as a garnish, pick a good handful of leaves and deep-fry them at 350 until just cooked, carefully remove the crisp leaves and drain on a towel. Reserve the fried parsley (it can be made hours, or in some lazy restaurants, days in advance).
  • Season the burbot pieces with salt, then dredge in the lobster mushroom mixture and dust off the excess. Meanwhile, heat some oil in a pan until hot, and fry the burbot pieces, turning once to caramelize each side, working quickly so they don't overcook.
  • Remove the cooked burbot pieces to a paper towel to drain, then serve immediately on a warmed plate with lemon wedges, fried parsley, and warmed ramekins of the crayfish butter.
  • Shellfish butter
  • Here's how to make shellfish butter: Take some raw or cooked shells, pound them with a mallet to release their juices and squish them all up, or mash in a stand mixer. Put the shells in a pot and add melted unsalted butter just to cover, then simmer on the lowest heat possible, about 30 minutes, adding a little water to make the butter float. After 30 minutes, the butter will taste like crayfish, strain and chill. Remove the pure orange butter after chilling, then simmer to sterilize it and remove water. Refrigerate the butter for a couple months, or freeze for longer. Use as a dip, drizzle, base of a sauce, or cook shellfish or even poultry with it.

More Lobster Mushrooms 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kevin

    March 30, 2019 at 9:10 am

    This sounds awesome! Now I’ll just have to keep enough self-discipline not to use up all my dried lobster mushrooms before my trip up to Rainy Lake next winter for some pout!

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      March 30, 2019 at 9:11 am

      Thanks Kevin, it was a fun one. If you ever hunt crayfish or have lobster shells around, make sure to try the butter too.

      Reply
  2. Mario Tomberli

    December 17, 2020 at 6:33 am

    5 stars
    Hey I have done poor mans lobster with lake trout and it works well too as it’s a firm fish. Also try boiling fish in sugar water. I do that with the trout first than to the pan. The sugar sweetens the meat an really starts reminding you of lobster

    Reply

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Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each instead of the pound. 

Good day today, although my Twin Cities spots seem a full two weeks behind from the late spring. 2 hours south they were almost all mature. 

76 for me and 152 for the group. Check your spots, and good luck! 

#morels #murkels #mollymoochers #drylandfish #spongemushroom #theprecious
The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natu The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natural secretion of water I typically see with plants. 

I understand it as an indicator that the mushrooms are growing rapidly, and a byproduct of their metabolism speeding up. If you have some clarifications, chime in. 

Most people know it from Hydnellum 
peckii-another polypore. I’ve never seen it on pheasant backs before.

Morels are coming soon too. Mine were 1 inch tall yesterday in the Twin Cities. 

#guttation #mushroomhunting #cerioporussquamosus #pheasantback #naturesbeauty
Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a grocery store. 

#groceryshopping #sochan #rudbeckialaciniata #foraging
Italian wild food traditions are some of my favori Italian wild food traditions are some of my favorite. 

Case in point: preboggion, a mixture of wild plants, that, depending on the reference, should be made with 5-23 individual plants. 

Here’s a few mixtures I’ve made this spring, along with a reference from the Oxford companion to Italian food. 

The mixture should include some bitter greens (typically assorted asters) but the most important plant is probably borage. 

Making your own version is a good excercise. Here they’re wilted with garlic and oil, but there’s a bunch of traditional recipes the mixture is used in. 

Can you believe this got cut from my book?!

#preboggion #preboggiun #foraging #traditionalfoods
Oh the things I get in the mail. This is my kind Oh the things I get in the mail. 

This is my kind of tip though: a handmade buckskin bag with a note and a handful of bleached snapping turtle claws. 😁😂 

Sent in by Leslie, a reader. 

Smells like woodsmoke and the cat quickly claimed it as her new bed. 

#buckskin #mailsurprise #turtleclaws #thisimylife #cathouse
Bluebell season. Destined for a Ligurian ravioli Bluebell season. 

Destined for a Ligurian ravioli as a replacement for the traditional borage greens. 

#mertensiavirginica #virginiabluebells #spring #foraging
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