Coconut Lobster Cakes with Pineapple-Coconut Sauce

For the last several weeks, I have been craving coconut shrimp. I've even dreamed about eating it more than once. But shrimp here comes only in frozen, and it's expensive, and me making some just wasn't going to happen. I'm not even sure we have a restaurant that sells it, unless maybe Red Lobster does... but even there is about a 25-minute drive in a direction I never go.

So what did I do? Decided to make cakes. Except I didn't have shrimp. Or crab. I had imitation lobster. I went ahead anyway. That makes sense if you live in my head.

As it turns out, for once I actually didn't leave anything out of the picture! I even had something extra this time: I thought I'd need the almond milk to thin out the sauce, but I opted to only sort-of drain the pineapple instead, so I didn't need it. Basic ingredients, though: imitation lobster, coconut, egg, and seasonings for the cakes; mayo, pineapple, more coconut, and powdered sugar for the sauce; coconut oil for frying (because I owned it, otherwise I would've used extra-virgin olive oil. I do think it added a nice flavour, though).

Wait. I just lied to you. I ended up using two eggs, not one. My track record remains!

Not shown was my pathetic attempt at shredding the imitation lobster. I bought this hand-cranked sort-of food processor at the Salvation Army for five bucks, and at least in this application I can see why it was there. After fighting with it for about 10 minutes (during which time the lid came off at least six times), I declared it good enough. However, if you're using a real food processor, this will work better. The bigger chunks, while tasty, didn't really work so well in the patty-forming process.

Anyway, I mixed the fake lobster and coconut with some Old Bay and white pepper, then mixed in a couple of well-beaten eggs to act as binder.

I then melted about a tablespoon of coconut oil in my large nonstick skillet and fried four patties at a time, 5 minutes each side. Pictured is the second batch, as the first one was a bit of a learning curve. It turns out you need to have the heat at medium-high rather than medium-low, and you need to leave them alone until you flip them. My first four quite fell apart.

Also, when you're forming "patties" with the lobster mixture, it won't be like making crab cakes. It falls apart even if all you do is look at it. What I ended up doing was forming a sort-of patty on the palm of one hand, then flipping it into the pan. They actually held together pretty well, especially after I turned the heat up for the second batch and stopped poking them until the timer went off.

While the patties were cooking, I mixed up the sauce. I use olive oil mayonnaise because I like it best, but you can use whatever kind makes you happy. I bet it'd be good with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, too, although you might have to add more sugar. I didn't even have to whisk it, just mixed it with a spoon. And then when I tasted it to see how close I was to what I wanted, I almost just continued filling that spoon until the bowl was gone, because this was some darn fine sauce! I'm going to use it as fruit dip, and also maybe put it on English muffins instead of preserves. And if I ever do get to make coconut shrimp, this will be the dipping sauce. Yum!

These are again from the second batch. You can tell because they actually held together when I transferred them from the pan to my plate. I still had to be careful, but they did hold together well. I even had to cut them apart with the side of my fork to eat them.

Finishing touch. The cakes tasted pretty darn good on their own, but with the sauce added they were out of this world. As I type this, I just got done eating dinner and my mouth is watering just thinking about these. Seriously. I get that you expect me to say something I made tastes good, but sometimes I amaze even myself. These are wicked good!

Coconut Lobster Cakes with Pineapple-Coconut Sauce

Serves 4

16 ounces imitation lobster, thawed and excess water squeezed out

1 1/2 cups coconut flakes

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

2 eggs, well beaten

2 tablespoons coconut oil, divided

Sauce:

1 cup olive oil mayonnaise

1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, partially drained*

1/2 cup coconut flakes

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Shred imitation lobster chunks in a food processor until very few lumps remain. In a large bowl, toss meat with coconut flakes and seasonings, then stir in eggs until well-combined.

Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Form four patties out of the lobster mixture and fry for 5 minutes on each side. Since the mixture is very crumbly, form the patty on the palm of one hand and then flip it into the skillet.

Remove first four patties to a plate and keep warm; repeat process with remaining coconut oil and mixture for a total of eight lobster cakes.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a bowl, combine all ingredients until well-blended. Set aside or refrigerate until needed.

*What I mean by partially drained is to leave the lid on the can of pineapple and tip it until a bunch of liquid runs out, but don't press down on the lid to force all the liquid out.

Lobster Cakes:

Serving Size: 173g (2 cakes)

Calories: 302

Calories from Fat: 171

Total Fat: 19.0g

Saturated Fat: 15.4g

Trans Fat: 0.0g

Cholesterol: 97mg

Sodium: 748mg

Total Carbohydrates: 19.9g

Dietary Fiber: 2.8g

Sugars: 8.0g

Protein: 15.8g

Sauce:

Serving Size: 33g (assumes 16 servings total)

Calories: 67

Calories from Fat: 44

Total Fat: 4.9g

Saturated Fat: 0.7g

Trans Fat: 0.0g

Cholesterol: 0mg

Sodium: 96mg

Total Carbohydrates: 5.7g

Sugars: 3.0g

Protein: 0.2g

I had to do the nutrition information a little goofy because of the sauce. This makes WAY more sauce than you'll use... we put maybe a tablespoon on each cake. In fact, assuming 16 servings of sauce might be underestimating it a bit, but it's so stupid good I figured that'd be about right. Lord knows I ate more than what I put on my cakes.