Velouté de Homard à l’Orientale

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart saucepan
• •Small saucepan for the rice
• •Sturdy food processor with locking lid
• •Kitchen shears and rolling pin
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Damp muslin or double-layered cheesecloth
• •Whisk and ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the rice

   Bring the water and half the measured salt to a full boil in a small saucepan. Add the rice and cook uncovered until tender but still intact, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain it thoroughly and spread it over a plate so the grains dry separately instead of settling into a clump. Measure 2 tablespoons (30 ml / about 28 g) of cooked rice for service; this is the rice à l’Indienne, plain, distinct, and ready to be served apart.

   The wide plate matters more than rinsing the cooked rice. It lets surface moisture escape while the grains are still loose.
2. 2

   Season the New-burg

   Prepare the Homard à la New-burg (with raw lobster) (No. 948) according to its own entry, retaining every piece of shell rather than discarding it. Stir the curry powder into its warm lobster sauce and hold it over gentle heat for 2 minutes so the spice loses its raw edge. Reserve several neat slices of tail meat, cut them into small dice, and keep them covered for the garnish. Set the remaining lobster meat, all the sauce, and the shells aside together.

3. 3

   Build the light velouté

   Melt the 3 tablespoons butter in a heavy 4-quart saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook this roux blond, a pale roux, for 3 minutes over gentle heat without allowing it to brown. Whisk in the warm stock a little at a time, making each addition smooth before the next. Bring it to the barest simmer and cook for 20 minutes, skimming any foam. It should coat the spoon with a light film, not sit on it like gravy; the source asks for a velouté kept somewhat light because the lobster sauce and finishing butter still have body to contribute.

4. 4

   Pound shell and meat

   Let the lobster mixture cool until warm rather than scalding. Enclose the shells in a heavy food-storage bag and crack them thoroughly with a rolling pin, then snip any large sections into smaller pieces with kitchen shears. Working in batches, pulse the crushed shells, remaining lobster meat, curry-seasoned sauce, and about 1 cup of the light velouté in a sturdy food processor until reduced to a gritty, thick purée. If the machine labors, stop and crush the shells more finely before continuing. Combine the purée with the remaining velouté.

5. 5

   Pass it twice

   Press the mixture firmly through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl, using the back of a ladle to extract the liquid from the shell. Rinse the sieve, line it with damp muslin or two layers of damp cheesecloth, and pass the soup through again. Press gently on this second pass, but stop when the residue becomes dry and chalky. That last paste is shell grit, not hidden flavor. The mortar and tammy have changed; the essential double straining has not.

6. 6

   Thin below a boil

   Return the strained velouté to a clean saucepan. Add the warm consommé ½ cup at a time, using only what is necessary to give the soup a flowing, light-cream consistency and bring the yield close to 2 quarts. Warm it gently to 170 to 180°F (77 to 82°C), with movement at the surface but no bubbling, then season with the remaining salt as needed and the white pepper. If too much consommé slips in, hold the soup uncovered just below a simmer until it returns to the proper body. Correct the texture now, before the finishing butter goes in.

7. 7

   Monter au beurre

   Take the saucepan completely off the heat. Monter au beurre, mount with butter, by whisking in the cold diced butter a few pieces at a time until each addition disappears and the surface takes on a deep, even gloss. Never return the finished velouté to a boil. If oily beads appear, stop. Ça se rattrape: put the reserved tablespoon of cold consommé in a clean warm bowl, whisk in one ladle of the troubled soup until smooth, then gradually whisk in the rest.

8. 8

   Garnish and serve

   Warm the reserved lobster-tail dice for a few seconds in a ladleful of velouté, without letting it simmer, then divide the dice among warmed soup plates. Ladle in the velouté so the lobster just breaks the glossy surface. Fluff the 2 tablespoons of rice à l’Indienne into a small warmed bowl and serve it apart, allowing each guest to add a few distinct grains at the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose a mild, rounded curry powder rather than a hot paste. Curry is an accent in this velouté, not its identity; you should smell it just after the lobster, never before.
• •Use a sturdy processor with a tightly locking lid, and let the lobster mixture cool before processing. Shell fragments are hard and the sauce is rich, so work in small batches and stop immediately if the motor strains. A mortar and pestle remain the quiet alternative.
• •Do not skip the muslin-lined second pass. The first sieve removes shell pieces; the second removes the fine grit that would betray itself on the tongue. Cooking well is not cooking fancy, but it is attentive.
• •Serve with brut Champagne or a firm, dry white Burgundy. Both have enough acidity for the butter and cream already carried by the lobster sauce, without fighting the curry.

Advance Preparation

• •The soup can be completed through the second straining one day ahead. Cool it promptly in a shallow container, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat below a boil, adjust with consommé, and mount with the cold butter only when the guests are seated.
• •The lobster component may be prepared earlier the same day. Keep its sauce, meat, and retained shells covered and chilled, with the tail garnish separated so it stays neat.
• •Prepare the rice à l’Indienne a few hours ahead and refrigerate it once cool. Rewarm the reserved 2 tablespoons in a covered dish with a teaspoon of consommé, then fluff the grains before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)