Saying goodbye to summer can be bittersweet, reminding us of all the things we did or didn’t do before Labor Day’s dreaded last gasp of the season. Many outdoor, seaside dining establishments throughout the East End call it quits on this first weekend of September, increasing the urge to take advantage of every moment before sweater weather and pumpkins prevail.
Perhaps this is where comfort food gets its name from, helping to ease the transition and longing for those fleeting, warmer days. A good seafood stew recipe can help with the changes ahead, simmering on the stove after a brisk beach walk and providing a fitting farewell summer meal to share with your favorite people.
If you were fortunate enough to have tried the MTK lobster stew at Lily’s Seaside before Labor Day, that lingering experience will be hard to forget. Lily’s Seaside — a popular seafood-centric food shack — is located at the charming Silly Lily’s Fishing Station in East Moriches, a boatyard which has been renting fishing skiffs to East Enders since the 1930s. The popular menu item adds an Asian twist on a classic chowder, incorporating lemongrass, green curry and shrimp paste, fish sauce, shiitake mushrooms and coconut milk into the broth.
“I call it surfer stew,” says Lily’s Seaside co-owner Jay Scott, who owns Silly Lily Fishing Station along with his partner, Steve Chiros. “The flavors remind me of something you would have down in Costa Rica.”
Out of a lovingly restored — and recently polished to a shiny silver — food truck (formerly owned by Long Ireland Brewery) and adjacent kitchen, Lily’s Seaside’s menu offers surprisingly sophisticated yet approachable fare. Guests can place casual window service orders for clarified punch coladas, crabby fries, lobster rolls, and wild shrimp ceviche, all while lingering at painted picnic tables along the waterfront. With a view of wooden rental dories neatly tied along the docks, it’s easy to settle into the nostalgic magic of a bygone era.
Behind the scenes, Lily’s Seaside general manager Cass Dotzel says their nickname “Stone Creek’s little sister” refers to chef and co-owners Christian Mir and Elaine DiGiacomo’s mainstay, East Quogue’s Stone Creek Inn. “I think it’s a perfect mix,” says Dotzel of the menu collaboration she helps facilitate with the two celebrated chefs. “What they do with high-end French cuisine is amazing. The concept was: How do we adapt that for Lily’s Seaside eatery?” she says.
“I love when people say, ‘Your food is so delicious’ and I remind them we are business partners with Stone Creek Inn,” adds Scott with a laugh. “They usually don’t believe it.”
The unlikely pairing of Scott and Chiros with Stone Creek began with an introduction by Early Girl Farm’s Patty Gentry, who previously held her farmers’ market at the fishing station. “Patty was the conduit to connect us with Christian and Elaine,” recounts Scott. “It’s just been a lover affair ever since.”
The seafood soup has become an alluring regular feature on the menu, the aroma of which seems to linger in the memory of Lily’s Seaside fans long after they shutter for the season after Labor Day.
“We served the stew at an event, and people were just obsessed with it,” recounts Chiros of the popular menu staple. “The aroma when it’s cooking enchants people,” adds Dotzel.
But no need to mourn the ending of summer; DiGiacomo and Mir were happy to lend the recipe and their crew even chimed in with a few tips for stew success. First off: Source your lobster locally. “We all love Braun’s Seafood,” says Dotzel, “it’s the best on the East End.” It is also essential to only add the lobster meat at the finish and not to cook it in the stew, guaranteeing perfect texture.
Serve alongside tortilla chips, perfect for scooping up a bite of that luscious lobster meat. Don’t forget your cable knit sweater to help you ease into the fall transition, and take comfort in knowing that Lily’s Seaside will reopen next spring.
Lily’s Seaside MTK Lobster Stew
Ingredients
For the stock
- 2 2 1/4 lb lobsters
For the base
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 large carrots, roughly chopped
- 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
- 2 lemongrass stalks, white parts only, sliced
- 2 tbsp green curry paste
- 2 tbsp shrimp paste
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 Idaho potato, peeled and chopped
For the stew
- 1/4 cup palm sugar
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 lb shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 sweet potato, cubed
- salt and pepper, to taste
- reserved lobster meat
- 2 tbsp chives, chopped (optional)
Directions
- Boil 8 quarts of water with 3 tablespoons of salt in pot. Add whole lobsters and cook for 8 minutes. Refresh pot in ice water for 10 minutes, or cool enough to handle. Remove lobster meat from tails and claws, and reserve until ready to serve later. Reserve the lobster stock.
- To prepare stock, in another large stock pot add 2 tablespoons of neutral oil. Saute onion, garlic, carrots, celery and lemongrass for 2 minutes.
- Add green curry paste, shrimp paste, fish sauce and lobster bodies and shells and stir until incorporated.
- Add palm sugar and 8 quarts of water to the stock pot with the vegetables and lemongrass and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for one hour.
- Strain stock into a large heat-proof bowl, pressing the juices from the lobster shells. Return to stock pot, add the prepped Idaho sweet potato and boil until tender, about 10 minutes. Working in batches, slowly add stock to a blender or Vitamix taking care not to add too much at a time.
- Wipe your stock pot clean and add a small amount of vegetable oil, quickly saute shiitake mushrooms. Add coconut milk, heavy cream, lobster stock and cubed sweet potato. Bring stew to a boil, reduce flame to simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
- Adjust salt and pepper. Chop reserved lobster meat into bite sized pieces and add to stew briefly taking care not to overcook.
- Garnish with finely chopped chives or cilantro – Serve immediately with oyster crackers or fresh corn tortilla chips.
