Jump to Recipe

Poor Man’s lobster, also known as Mock lobster, was a favorite of mine growing up.  Poor man’s lobster is boiled haddock. I always knew when my mom was making this meal. I could smell the sharp smell of white vinegar and old bay seasoning boiling on the stove top.  She always used the same beige colored mugs with a burgundy rim to melt and serve the butter. 

Now my family enjoys this just as much as I did and usually leaves little to no left-overs.  We like to have Poor Man’s lobster with rice or egg noodles.  For a vegetable we make steamed broccoli or mixed vegetables. 

I don’t have the beige colored mugs with a burgundy rim to serve the butter in. Instead, we use Pampered Chef one-cup glass prep bowls without the lids.  Really, any similar-sized microwave-safe container would work fine.  We put about 1/8 to ¼ cup of salted butter in each dish. Then we microwave it in intervals of fifteen to twenty seconds until the butter is melted.  Some people dip their haddock into the butter.  We like to immerse pieces of haddock completely into the butter. 

As delicious as this meal is, we must be careful to check for bones.  They are not often in the meat but occasionally one very thin bone will stick out of a chunk of haddock. The bones are very small, about the size of a small needle. Therefore, they are easily missed.

Let me know how you like poor man’s lobster and if you did anything differently.