If there are 2 things that were MADE to be eaten with loads of butter, it’s lobster and mashed potatoes, so why not combine them into one decadent dish for the holidays? We’re upping the ante by not just using regular butter, but a nutty brown butter seasoned like the Viet-Cajun crayfish and shrimp boils of Louisiana.
You’ve probably encountered a version of these sauces at restaurants like Hot n Juicy Crab or The Boil, where you’re served a bag full of delicious seafood coated in a spicy garlic butter. Since there’s a big Vietnamese population in Louisiana, they have their own variation on these seafood boils infused with the fish sauce that’s characteristic to the cuisine. It adds a punch of umami to the brown butter to add even more flavor to the lobster (though you’re welcome to make these mashed potatoes without it to make this vegetarian!). The Viet-Cajun brown butter is also excellent as a pasta sauce, or try it next time you have seafood at home.
These mashed potatoes are the perfect way to spice up your holiday table, and it’s made even easier with OXO’s kitchen tools. Check out their smooth potato masher, citrus squeezer and more in my video.
Lobster Mashed Potatoes with Viet-Cajun Brown Butter
These creamy mashed potatoes pair luxurious lobster meat with a spicy, umami-spiked brown butter sauce inspired by Viet-Cajun seafood boils
Ingredients
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- 4 Russet potatoes, peeled
- 4 tbsp butter
- ¼–½ cup whole milk, use more for creamier texture
- ½ tsp salt, more to taste
Viet-Cajun Brown Butter
- 3–4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pats
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp lemon juice, more to taste
- ½ tsp smoked paprika, plus more to taste
- ½ tsp cayenne, plus more to taste
- ½ tsp Old Bay or crab boil seasoning, plus more to taste
- ½ tsp fresh ground pepper, plus more to taste
- Dash dried thyme
- Dash dried oregano
Garnish
- 1 cup cooked lobster, tail and knuckle pieces chopped and claws left intact (optional)
- 1 bunch fresh chives, chopped
- Fresh ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook the potatoes. Place them in a pot and cover them with water so there’s at least 1-inch (2.5-cm) of water above. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes, until you can easily pierce the center of each potato with a knife
- Prepare the rest of your mashed potato ingredients while the potatoes are cooking. Soften the butter by cutting it into pats and setting aside at room temperature. Heat up the milk until hot but not boiling in a saucepan for 4 to 5 minutes over medium-low heat, or about 2 minutes in the microwave.
- Make the brown butter while the potatoes are cooking. In a medium frying pan or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Try to use a light-colored pan, if you have it, so you can monitor the color of the butter. Swirl the pan every so often so the butter cooks evenly. The butter will foam, then the color will turn yellow, then golden and eventually turn a toasty brown with little brown flecks in it after 4 to 6 minutes, depending on how much butter you’re using. Adjust the heat to low the moment this happens.
- Add the garlic and lemon juice to the brown butter, cooking the garlic until softened and aromatic, about 1 minute. Add the paprika, cayenne, Old Bay or crab boil seasoning, fresh ground pepper, dried thyme, and dried oregano and simmer for another minute until fully combined into your Viet-Cajun brown butter. Set aside.
- Mash the potatoes with OXO’s Smooth Potato Masher, or with an electric mixer, starting on low and increasing to medium as the potatoes get broken up.
- Stream in the hot milk while mashing/beating until you reach your desired level of creaminess.
- Add the softened butter, one pat at a time, mashing or beating until fully combined and your potatoes are nice and fluffy.
- Fold in the chopped lobster meat (reserving the whole claws), plus a quarter of the Viet-Cajun brown butter, and half of the chopped chives. Season with salt to taste, being mindful of the brown butter.
- Transfer to your serving bowl and make a well in the center of the mashed potatoes for the reserved lobster claws and another quarter to half of the Viet-Cajun brown butter. Garnish with fresh chives and a few turns of fresh ground pepper, leaving the rest of the Viet-Cajun brown butter on the side for guests to add onto their own servings.
