[Steven] The Gulf Coast extends from the Florida Keys to the Yucatán Peninsula.

Along the way, you'll find some of the most vibrant seafood and distinctive grilling in the Americas.

From a Gulf Coast grill top shrimp boil... [Rebecca] I like how you got all the classic flavors of a seafood boil with some of the smoke from the grill.

It adds a lot of dimension.

[Steven] ...to grilled oysters with charred corn salsa.

The sweet, crunchy corn and bright dill against that briny oyster.

It's so simple, so fresh.

And a spectacular grilled snapper zarandeado, prepared by Mexican Grill Master Alejandro Gutiérrez.

Alejandro, this is really spectacular.

The fish, perfectly cooked.

Nice smoke flavor from the wood fire.

From The Pearl on the River in San Antonio, Texas, I'm Steven Raichlen.

Welcome to Planet Barbecue.

[opening theme music] [announcer] Steven Raichlen's "Planet Barbecue" is made possible by... [narrator 1] This is the Big Green Egg, where fire and flavor come together.

You can roast, bake, and sear with the versatility of a grill, oven, and barbecue smoker combined.

Locate a dealer at BigGreenEgg.com.

[narrator 2] Fire Magic, combining style with the versatility to sear, smoke, rotisserie cook, and charcoal grill.

Crafted in America for over 80 years.

[music] Shun Cutlery handcrafted in Japan.

[narrator 3] Father's Cooker, multi-fuel, multifunction.

[narrator 3] Argentine Beef proudly supports "Planet Barbecue."

[narrator 4] Truly wireless temperature starts with Maverick.

[announcer] And by the following: [Steven] The Gulf of Mexico embraces two time zones, three countries, and more than 615,000 square miles of waters rich in sea life.

The U.S. portion of the Gulf Coast runs from Key West, Florida to Brownsville, Texas.

Thirty-three major rivers feed the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in nutrient-rich waters that are home to an incredible wealth of seafood.

From snapper, grouper, and swordfish to all manner of oyster, shrimp, and crab.

Equally rich are the cuisines of the Gulf Coast, from the shellfish boils of the Florida panhandle to the Cajun and Creole cooking of Louisiana.

Each adding its distinctive flavors to the Gulf Coast Grill.

The shrimp boil is a Gulf Coast institution.

And while the ingredients may vary from region to region, the core elements: spicy broth, impeccably fresh seafood, and crusty bread for dunking, remain constant.

Of course, here at Planet Barbecue we do things a little differently.

Ladies and gentlemen, fire up your grills.

Start by bringing two gallons of water to a boil.

Add two cans of your favorite beer.

Then add one quarter cup of shrimp boil.

One quarter cup of Cajun seasoning.

And one quarter cup of Worcestershire sauce.

Next, add a stick of unsalted butter.

A couple of pounds of new potatoes.

Peeled carrots, cut into chunks.

Celery.

Bay leaves.

And a bunch of cilantro.

Let this mixture return to a boil.

This will be the base broth.

So, that's the boil part.

Now the grill part.

Brush okra with extra virgin olive oil.

Brush corn, and finally onion wedges.

Then season with coarse sea salt... ...and freshly ground black pepper.

I use this double skewering rafting technique a lot for small foods.

It makes turning them on the grill a snap.

This shrimp boil actually has two components.

There's the boiled component and the grilled component.

Arrange your poblano peppers on the grill grate, followed by the onion, followed by your okra skewers and the corn.

And finally, your Andouille sausage.

The idea here is that we grill some of the ingredients to add extra flavor to the broth.

Once the vegetables and sausage are browned on both sides, transfer them to a sheet pan.

Cut your corn into one-inch rounds.

Then cut the poblanos into two-inch pieces.

Unskewer the onions... ...and the okra.

And here are your grilled vegetables and sausage, ready to add to the shrimp boil.

Just remember with each additional ingredient, we add another layer of flavor.

Now the final movement of our shrimp boil symphony.

So, take these little neck clams and add them to the broth.

For shellfish, I'm using head-on shrimp and soft-shell crabs.

Drizzle the seafood with extra virgin olive oil.

And season it with coarse sea salt... ...and freshly ground black pepper.

And give a toss to coat the shrimp and seafood on the bottom, then back to the grill.

Now arrange the shrimp on the grill grate.

Add soft shell crabs.

I love the char on the shellfish.

Once the shrimp shells are seared, add the shrimp to the boil.

I wish you could smell this.

The aroma is incredible.

Then add your fire seared crabs to the boil.

Here, folks, is your Planet Barbecue shrimp boil.

Let's see how we did.

So, with a slotted spoon, we'll fish out the solid ingredients.

And then this luscious broth.

And finally, for mopping up the broth, Texas toast, brushed with butter, sprinkled with Tajin, grilled until crunchy.

And what's a shrimp boil without some friends to enjoy it?

Come on in.

Rebecca.

Thank you.

Lauren.

Thank you.

Kieran.

Okay, and there's your broth, so let's sample.

I have a piece of bread.

All right.

Texas toast, just perfect for dipping.

Mm.

Oh, man, that's great.

All right.

Good.

Okay.

Grab a shrimp.

You know what they say in New Orleans is, you suck the heads and eat the tails.

That's where all the flavor is.

That's right, in the head.

Beautiful.

Rebecca, nicely done.

[Rebecca] I like how you got all the classic flavors of a seafood boil with some of the smoke from the grill, adds a lot of dimension.

Well, thank you very much, Rebecca.

Okay.

If there is one man who has changed the face of Mexican grilling, who is the face of Mexican grilling, it's my friend Alejandro Gutiérrez, president and founder of the Sociedad Mexicana de Parrilleros.

He's the creator of the largest live fire cooking championship in Latin America.

He has written 12 cookbooks, many of them award winners.

He's also a TEDx speaker.

Wow.

I first met him at my barbecue university.

Alejandro, welcome to Planet Barbecue.

Thank you for the invitation, Steven.

What are you going to make for us today?

[Alejandro] It's pescado zarandeado.

The zarandeado is a technique.

We're going to make the salsa, fresh serrano salsa in a molcajete and we're going to end it up in a tostada.

Fantastic.

Alejandro, what's the first step?

The first step to make, is to make the salsa.

I'm going to fry some garlic in the skillet.

[Steven] Okay.

[Alejandro] Right here on the embers.

You can make the rub.

Okay.

It will go on the fish, and a little bit of rub for the salsa, too.

[Steven] Okay.

So, the rub-- Actually, I learned this from you, so you go ahead.

[Steven] Equal parts salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic powder-- [Alejandro] Mhmm.

[Steven] Ground fresh coriander.

Oh, I love that.

It's such a great, perfumy flavor.

Cayenne pepper for heat and color.

And we'll mix these ingredients together.

And here is your rub.

So, this is what, about a three-pound snapper?

Uh-huh.

We butterfly it.

We take the bone out.

Grilling in a fish basket, it's going to make it much easier to handle the fish.

That's where the name comes from.

The boat was rocking and that's what they call zarandear.

Zarandear means to rock, basically, so we're rocking the fish back and forth.

[Alejandro] So, you need something to hold the fish together, so it won't fall off the boat.

Won't fall off the boat, okay.

So, hence the grill basket.

The garlic is ready.

Beautiful, okay, so just before it starts to brown.

Now, for the salsa, I believe you said we start with mayonnaise.

Chipotle.

The whole-- Yeah.

[Steven] All right.

[Alejandro] Spicy.

[Steven] Okay.

I think you wanted a little rub.

A little rub.

Whisk that together.

And what else now?

[Alejandro] Soy sauce and the garlic and the oil from the garlic.

[Steven] Okay.

And then do you want to add the garlic?

Mhmm.

[Steven] Good.

Oh my God.

Oh, Alejandro, this looks amazing.

Okay, so we'll whisk in the oil.

[Steven] So there is your salsa.

Woo.

Amazing.

Not that hot, right?

Not that hot.

[Alejandro] Let's baste it, baste the fish.

Alright.

And grill it.

And every time we flip it on the grill, we're going to keep basting that.

So, we're adding yet another layer of flavor.

All right.

So, we start the fish salsa side down, correct?

Kind of working with a log cabin configuration with the logs to give us plenty of air.

[Alejandro] Yes.

Beautiful.

And you're getting not only the heat from the fire, but the smoke from the wood.

Let's baste.

Alejandro, that looks amazing.

[Alejandro] Wait till I flip it.

[Steven] Mayonnaise is a great ingredient for grilling fish because it helps keep the meat moist.

[Alejandro] Mhmm.

[Steven] It's really useful to use a fish basket.

A lot easier to turn the basket than the fish.

Oh, beautiful.

Starting to take on a golden color.

[Alejandro] Mhmm.

[Steven] It looks amazing.

All right, next.

[Alejandro] Salsa.

Let's start with the garlic.

One clove, two cloves garlic.

[Steven] Okay.

[Alejandro] Salt.

[Steven] Great.

And then I think you need serrano chilies.

We need serranos.

You chop it.

[Steven] About like that?

[Alejandro] Mhmm.

We make a paste with this first.

[Steven] Yeah, that's called a molcajete, right?

Molcajete.

This is like the Aztec blender, the volcanic rock.

Alejandro, how did you get into grilling?

[Alejandro] Because of my dad and my mom, I mean, just for hobby.

We grill four times a week or five.

[Steven] All right, so you actually grind it pretty finely.

[Alejandro] Yeah.

And you can change hands if you get tired.

You want me to take over?

[Alejandro] Yeah.

We need the lime juice.

And at last, we need a fat.

[Steven] Okay.

[Alejandro] We're using olive oil.

[Steven] Extra virgin olive oil.

Okay.

Wow.

Let's see.

Oh, it's so fresh and it's not really fiery.

No.

I mean, little heat to it, but very different than what most Americans would think of as a salsa.

How do you know when the fish is done?

[Alejandro] The poke test.

[Steven] Uh-huh.

[Alejandro] The color.

[Steven] Oh, man.

Oh, man.

[Alejandro] The color is turning white now.

[Steven] Oh, look at that.

You also, you're going to cook tortillas as well.

Yeah, we're going to make some tostadas.

[Steven] Beautiful.

[Alejandro] This is corn tortillas.

We just throw them on the grill.

[Steven] Okay, so Alejandro, what exactly is a tostada?

Corn or flour tortilla, but it's crunchy.

[Steven] The fish is ready?

[Alejandro] It's done.

Yes.

And those are the tostadas.

Mhmm.

[Steven] Beautiful.

Ah, Alejandro, that looks fantastic.

How do we put it all together?

Okay.

First, tostada.

Tostada, a little bit of the zarandear salsa.

[Steven] Next?

[Alejandro] Fish.

[Steven] Mhmm.

That fish flakes so cleanly.

It's perfectly cooked.

Okay.

So, here's the serrano salsa, pickled onion, and this is just onion with vinegar, salt, coriander seeds, and bay leaves?

[Alejandro] Mhmm.

[Steven] And how long does that pickle for?

[Alejandro] Half an hour.

[Steven] Half an hour, so it's a really quick pickle.

[Alejandro] Need always avocado.

[Steven] Always aguacate.

And finally, a sprig of cilantro.

[Alejandro] And that's it.

[Steven] Alejandro, you have outdone yourself.

This looks totally amazing.

-Let's try it.

-Let's taste.

Thank you.

[Steven] Mm.

First of all, the fish, perfectly cooked.

Really moist.

Nice smoke flavor from the wood fire.

And then the salsas, it's-- To use two salsas, it's so interesting.

[Alejandro] You got the mayonnaise.

You got the fat from the mayonnaise, and this is really fresh... [Steven] Mm.

[Alejandro] ...from the serrano.

[Steven] This is really spectacular.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you for the invitation, Steven.

Mm.

Let's keep digging.

[Steven] Mm.

Among the teeming seafood in the Gulf of Mexico, none quite wets our collective appetites like oysters.

The shell mounds that dot the region, some 10,000 years old, attest to the bivalve's eternal popularity.

It's hard to imagine improving on the briny succulence of a freshly shucked oyster, but I'm going to try.

The secret?

You guessed it, the grill.

I've fueled a kamado style cooker with natural lump charcoal.

Set it up for direct grilling, heated it to 400 to 450 degrees.

Let me show you how to make the salsa.

It starts with fresh corn, jalapeno chilies, and scallions.

Brush the corn on all sides with melted butter.

Then season the corn with coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Now to the grill.

When your grill is hot, you want to open it a couple of times to let out the excess heat.

This is called burping the grill.

Then arrange the corn on the grate, add the jalapeños and the scallions.

So, why bother grilling the ingredients for the salsa?

Well, anytime you char corn, you're charring the natural sugar in the corn, which gives you a caramel flavor.

What is caramel?

Caramel is just burnt sugar.

Once the scallions are charred on both sides, transfer them to the sheet pan.

And once your jalapeños are blistered, transfer them to the sheet pan.

Last of all the corn, and you can actually hear a little popping.

It's almost like a popcorn effect as the corn kernels caramelize.

Once the corn is browned on all sides, transfer it to the sheet pan.

Close the grill lid to maintain the heat and let the vegetables cool.

To make the corn salsa, cut the kernels off the cob.

Why do I cut the corn this way?

If you try and cut the corn this way, the kernels will fly all over the cutting board.

But if you keep the ear low to the cutting board, the kernels will fall in a neat pile.

Next, take a jalapeno chili, cut it in half, and scrape out the seeds.

Remember, the seeds are the hottest part of the chili.

Don't use more than you mean to.

Then make a couple of lengthwise incisions and widthwise incisions, and there are your diced jalapeños.

Thinly slice the scallions and add them to the salsa.

Finally, chop some fresh dill.

You could use cilantro, but I thought dill goes so well with seafood and it would be a little different.

Then you'll need freshly squeezed lime juice.

And a sprinkle of salt.

Mix well.

Of course, you can prepare this ahead of time.

Mm.

Crunchy corn, sweet dill, fiery jalapeños.

This will go great with the oysters.

And now the fun part.

Shuck your oysters, protecting your hands with a dish cloth.

Insert the shucking knife, give a little twist to pry up the top shell, then run the oyster shucking knife along the top of the shell, and then underneath the oyster on the bottom shell to loosen it.

And there's your oyster.

Now, spoon a little melted butter into each shucked oyster.

Then return to the grill.

Again, remember, if it's hot, open it a little bit first to burp it.

Release those hot gasses.

Then place the oysters in their grilling rack on the grill.

Cooking time is quick.

Five to eight minutes will do it.

You're looking for the oysters to poach in their juices, but not completely dry out.

Once the juices are bubbling, the oysters are ready.

Just take them out.

Careful not to spill those delicious juices.

And top each oyster with a spoonful of the corn salsa.

Now there, my friends, are your grilled Gulf Coast oysters with fire charred corn salsa.

Let's take a taste.

Mm.

I love grilled oysters.

The sweet, crunchy corn and bright dill against that briny oyster.

It's so simple, so fresh.

Grilled oysters with corn salsa, it's a new Gulf Coast barbecue tradition.

Thanks for watching.

We are Planet Barbecue.

See you next time.

[announcer] For recipes, books, and more live fire cooking, visit StevenRaichlen.com.

You can also follow Steven Raichlen on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

Steven Raichlen's "Planet Barbecue" was made possible by... [narrator 1] This is the Big Green Egg, where fire and flavor come together.

You can roast, bake, and sear with the versatility of a grill, oven, and barbecue smoker combined.

Locate a dealer at BigGreenEgg.com.

[narrator 2] Fire Magic, combining style with the versatility to sear, smoke, rotisserie cook, and charcoal grill.

Crafted in America for over 80 years.

[music] Shun Cutlery handcrafted in Japan.

[narrator 3] Father's Cooker, multi-fuel, multifunction.

[narrator 3] Argentine Beef proudly supports "Planet Barbecue."

[narrator 4] Truly wireless temperature starts with Maverick.

[announcer] And by the following: The shell mounts, some-- ...some 10,000 years old.

[Steven] And to help me-- And to help me sample this feast, the planet, the planet bur-- And to help me sample this fist, fist.

And to help me sample this feast, I need some project.

Planet, that'd be planet.