Hummersuppe

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy-bottomed pot, 5 litre
• •Fine mesh sieve
• •Heavy knife or rolling pin for cracking shells
• •Long matches (for flambéing)
• •Ladle with a flat base

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the lobster

   Crack the lobsters open and remove all the meat from the tails and claws. Cut the meat into bite-size pieces and keep it covered in the fridge. This is what goes into the bowl at the very end, so you want it kept cool and clean. Chop the shells into rough pieces with a heavy knife, or pound them with a rolling pin inside a folded tea towel. You want them broken open so their flavor can escape into the butter when you roast them. The shells are not waste; they are where the soup begins.

   Don't throw away the legs or the small claw fragments. They're thin but full of flavor, and they'll give up everything they have in the pot.
2. 2

   Roast the shells

   Melt the butter in your heaviest pot over medium heat. Add the broken shells and turn them through the butter until every piece is coated. Let them cook, stirring now and then, for about fifteen minutes. You're looking for the shells to go from orange to a deep rust red, and for the kitchen to fill with a smell that is unmistakably of the sea. Don't rush this. The color and the smell are the flavor. A pale bisque is a timid bisque, and hummersuppe is not a timid dish.

3. 3

   Sweat the mirepoix

   Add the onion, leek, fennel, carrot, celery, and garlic to the pot. Stir them through the lobster butter and let them soften for about ten minutes. They should turn translucent and start to smell sweet, never brown. Add the tomato paste and stir it in. Cook it for two minutes to take the raw edge off. It will darken and stick slightly to the bottom of the pan, and that's exactly what you want. That sticky layer is concentrated flavor, and you'll lift it with the Cognac in a moment.

4. 4

   Flambé with Cognac

   Pour in the 100ml of Cognac and let it warm for a few seconds. If you have a gas burner and are confident, tilt the pot slightly and let the flame catch the surface. If you cook on induction or electric, hold a long match to the edge of the liquid instead. The flame will dance across the top for twenty or thirty seconds and die on its own. This isn't for show. The flame burns off the harsh alcohol and leaves behind the rounded, warm base of the spirit, which is what you want in the broth. If you'd rather not flambé at all, bring the Cognac to a hard simmer for two minutes. The result is nearly the same.

   Turn off any extractor fan before you light it. The flame is gentle but an extractor fan can pull it sideways, which is alarming and unnecessary.
5. 5

   Wine, stock, and the long simmer

   Pour in the white wine and let it bubble for a minute, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to lift everything the wine loosens. Add the fish stock, the bay leaf, and the thyme sprigs. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Never a rolling boil. A hard boil turns shellfish stock bitter and muddy, and you can't undo it. Let the soup simmer uncovered for forty-five minutes. The broth should reduce slightly and deepen to a rich orange-red. Taste it after half an hour. You should taste the lobster clearly. If you don't, the shells didn't roast long enough, and more simmering won't fix it; remember that for next time.

6. 6

   Strain without mercy

   Set a fine mesh sieve over a clean pot. Ladle the soup through, pressing hard on the solids with the back of a ladle or a small sturdy bowl to extract every drop of flavor. Don't be gentle. Everything good is trapped inside the shells and the vegetables, and your job is to get it out. When you've pressed the solids dry, discard them. The liquid in the clean pot is the soul of the dish.

   For a truly velvet texture, pass the strained broth through the sieve a second time lined with a piece of muslin or a clean cotton cloth. It takes two extra minutes and the difference is visible in the bowl.
7. 7

   Finish with cream

   Return the strained broth to a gentle heat. Pour in the cream and stir it through. Let it simmer softly for five minutes so the cream and the broth become one thing, not two. Season carefully with salt and white pepper. Taste. Adjust. Add a small splash of Cognac at the very end for lift, and a squeeze of lemon juice if the soup feels heavy. Stir in half the chopped dill. The rest goes on top of each bowl at the table. The bisque should coat the back of a spoon and hold a soft sheen. You'll know when it's right because the color will have turned from deep red to a warm coral, and the surface will look silky rather than broken.

8. 8

   Serve

   Warm your serving bowls with hot water and dry them just before serving. Cold bowls kill a hot bisque in thirty seconds. Divide the reserved lobster meat between the bowls, piled gently in the centre. Ladle the hot bisque over the meat so the pieces half-surface in the broth like islands. Place a generous teaspoon of stenbiderrogn on top of each bowl; the black roe against the coral broth is half the beauty of the dish. Scatter the remaining dill fronds across the surface and bring the bowls to the table at once. This is the first course of a long Danish evening. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Good fish stock is non-negotiable. If your stock is thin and salty, no amount of lobster shell will save the soup. A homemade stock made from white fish bones and aromatics is best, but a good shop-bought fresh fish stock will serve you well. Never use a dried cube; it tastes of nothing but salt.
• •Stenbiderrogn is sold in small jars in Danish fishmongers and good supermarkets from late December onwards. It's black, firm, and tastes cleanly of the sea. If you truly can't find it, a small spoonful of trout roe is an honest substitute. Don't use farmed sturgeon caviar; it belongs to a different dish entirely.
• •Drink something cold and dry alongside. A chilled glass of Chablis or a crisp Danish aquavit both work. A Cognac on the side for the older guests at the table is a traditional touch and matches the soup perfectly.
• •If you want a lighter version, use half-and-half instead of double cream and skip the second splash of Cognac at the end. The soul of the dish is in the roasted shells, not the dairy.

Advance Preparation

• •The bisque base can be made a day ahead up to the end of the simmer and strain. Cool it completely, refrigerate, and finish with the cream on the day of serving. The flavor is arguably better on day two, when everything has had time to settle.
• •The strained base also freezes well for up to two months. Defrost overnight in the fridge, reheat gently, then add the cream and seasonings.
• •Cook the lobsters up to a day ahead if you're buying them live. Reserve the meat in the fridge covered with a damp piece of kitchen paper so it doesn't dry out. Never freeze the cooked meat; the texture goes stringy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)