Grilled Ula (Spiny Lobster)

ʻUla is the Hawaiian spiny lobster — no claws, all tail, and a sweeter, firmer meat than a Maine lobster gives you. Know the rules before you go after one: the season is closed May 1 through August 31, the minimum carapace is 3 1/4 inches, egg-bearing females go back in the water, and take is by hand only. Those rules are why there are still lobsters on the reef. If you're buying instead, ask where it came from.

The cook is simple and the shell does most of the work. Split lengthwise, laid shell-side down over kiawe coals, the shell acts as a pan — it shields the meat from direct heat, holds the butter, and lets the smoke come around the sides. Kiawe's mild, slightly sweet smoke is the right match here; a heavy hickory or straight mesquite would bury a lobster in ten minutes. The one thing that kills this dish is overcooking. Pull at 135-140F and not a degree more.

Ingredients

• 2 spiny lobsters, 1 1/2-2 lbs each, split lengthwise, vein and head sac removed
• Garlic-shoyu butter: 1 stick butter + 4 crushed garlic cloves + 1 Tbsp shoyu + a splash of chili pepper water, melted together
• Kosher salt
• Lime or lemon wedges
• Green onion, sliced thin

Cook Sequence

1. Split the lobster head to tail with a heavy knife — drive the tip through the head first, then cut back through the tail. Pull the vein and the grit sac behind the eyes. Rinse and pat the meat dry.
2. Burn kiawe chunks down to an even coal bed, 450-500F at the grate. Toss a handful of chips on right before the lobster goes down.
3. Salt the meat lightly and brush with garlic-shoyu butter. Lobsters shell-side down on the grate, meat facing up. Lid closed if you have one.
4. 6-8 minutes shell down, basting twice more. The shell will go bright orange-red and the butter will pool and bubble in the cavity — that's the sign it's working.
5. Flip meat-side down for 60-90 seconds only, just for grill marks and a little char at the edges. Any longer and you're pushing past the window.
6. Pull at 135-140F in the thickest part of the tail. The meat should be opaque and just firm; if it squeaks against the shell, it went too far.
7. Off the fire, last brush of butter while it's hot enough to drink it in. Green onion, lime, and serve in the shell — the shell is the bowl.

Round Out the Plate

• Coconut Rice — sweet and starchy under the garlic butter
• Hawaiian Macaroni Salad — cold plate-lunch counterweight
• Grilled Corn on the Cob — goes on the same coals while the lobster rests