Give your next barbecue a coastal twist with this bold Swordfish BBQ recipe. Smoked low and slow with a flavorful blend of spices, swordfish collars, vertebrae cuts, and dorsal muscle are cooked until tender and pull-apart ready. Served with your favorite barbecue sauce and classic sides, it’s a seafood spin on Southern-style barbecue that’s packed with smoky, savory flavor.
Swordfish BBQ
Makes 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup smoked paprika
- ⅓ cup firmly packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup kosher salt
- ¼ cup Paul Prudhomme’s Seafood Magic
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 large swordfish carcass with fillets removed but about an inch or so of meat purposely left on the bone
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine paprika, brown sugar, salt, Seafood Magic, dry mustard, pepper, coriander, onion powder, and garlic powder.
- Remove any remaining skin from the tail and collar of fish. Separate the collars from the carcass, along with the muscle structure that runs along its back that controls the dorsal fin. Using a large knife, cut through the center of each vertebra and slice all the way, edge to edge, into chunks the width of each vertebra. (If cut directly in the middle of the vertebrae, the knife should cut through with little resistance.) Coat each vertebra, collar, and the dorsal muscle with spice mixture.
- Set a smoker on a low heat around 160°, preferably using hickory wood. Place swordfish pieces into smoker, and allow them to cook for around 3 hours until the meat renders and just begins to pull away from the bone. The dorsal muscle’s vertical bones should separate apart like baby back ribs. The vertebrae cuts can be served as is with a light brushing of your favorite BBQ sauce. The meat from the collars can be easily pulled from the bone and served like cochon du lait. Plate it up with all your favorite BBQ sides and sauce and enjoy!
