Pan-Fried Langoustines with Garlic
A refined restaurant-style dish now in your kitchen too! This delicacy used to be hard to find in stores, but now it has become more accessible. It is sold in many hypermarkets and specialized fish shops. Yet many people still do not know how to cook it. Let’s learn!
Updated : 18 May, 2026
Easy
About 20 min.
Ingredients
8
Lobsters
3
Garlic
0.25
Lemon
30 grams
Vegetable oil
to taste
Ground black pepper
to taste
Salt
Table
Table of volume measurements:
- teaspoon - 5 ml
- dessert spoon - 10 ml
- tablespoon - 20 ml
- glass - 200 ml
Preparation
Step 1
Prepare all the necessary ingredients. When buying langoustines, make sure to check their quality. First, langoustines should not be heavily covered with ice, because a large amount of ice indicates that the seafood has been frozen more than once. Second, the tail of a langoustine should curl inward, which is a sign of freshness. If the tail is not curled, it means the langoustine was already dead when it was caught.
Step 2
Before frying the langoustines, they need to be thawed. Seafood must never be exposed to sudden temperature changes. Improper thawing can cause moisture loss, which makes the protein coagulate and the langoustine meat become tough. Therefore, first let the langoustines sit in the refrigerator for 1.5 hours, and only then thaw them at room temperature for 2 to 2.5 hours.
Step 3
Rinse the thawed langoustines under running water and leave them in a colander for a few minutes so the excess liquid can drain off. Using kitchen scissors, make a careful cut along the entire back of the shell and remove the dark vein, which is the intestinal tract. It must be removed, because it may contain sand and bits of seaweed that can spoil the flavor and add bitterness.
Step 4
Pour vegetable oil into a skillet and heat it, then add the prepared langoustines. Fry them over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes until a golden crust forms on one side, then turn them over and, after reducing the heat, fry for another 5 minutes. The meat under the shell should cook through well. High heat gives a beautiful crust, but the meat may still remain raw inside.
Step 5
Peel the garlic cloves and slice them thinly. Wash the lemon thoroughly, because it will be added to the skillet with the peel still on. Cut the lemon into slices of any shape. Add the prepared garlic and lemon to the skillet and fry them together with the langoustines for 1 minute. During this time, the garlic will release its aroma without burning. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 6
Turn off the heat, cover the skillet with a lid, and leave the langoustines this way for another 10 minutes. During this time, the seafood will absorb the aromas of garlic and lemon even better, and the meat will finish cooking through. Transfer the cooked langoustines with garlic to a serving dish, garnish with herbs, and, to better bring out the delicate flavor of the langoustine meat, drizzle them with lemon juice.
Author note
Share the recipe
