Poor Man's Lobster

Poor Man’s Lobster

  • 2lbs firm fish (Burbot or Northern Pike work perfect) cut into chunks
  • 3 cups water
  • ½ cup white wine
  • 1 onion quartered
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • Garlic Diced or crushed
  • ½ cup butter for melting

Bring water, wine, onion, salt and bay leaves to boil in a medium to large pot. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and poach fish in the water, I usually do this in two patches depending on the size of pot. In the meantime, combine butter and garlic in a small pot to infuse for dipping. The fish will only take a few minutes, place on a baking sheet lined with paper towel and pat dry. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. You can serve the fish now, however if you have access to an oven, I like to broil the fish quickly (2-5min) as it firms the texture up to be even better for dipping. The goal is just to remove some of the moisture from the poaching, not to get any colour.


Serve communally and provide separate butter dishes for people to use. Any leftovers can be used in any of the recipes that require cooked fish (fish cakes, burbot on a bun, chowder)