Grilled Swordfish with Barbecue Sauce

Swordfish is one of the few fish that can stand up to a bold barbecue sauce and a hot grill without falling apart. The steaks are dense and meaty, almost steak-like, which makes them ideal for the high heat and aggressive seasoning of this recipe.

The sauce pulls double duty. Half serves as the marinade and basting liquid on the grill. The other half gets simmered with chopped onion, water, sugar, hot pepper sauce, and a bay leaf for 20 minutes into a thicker, more concentrated barbecue sauce for spooning over the finished fish. Smart use of one sauce, two ways.

That one-hour marinade in the lemon juice, ketchup, Worcestershire, and garlic does real work. The acid from the lemon juice firms the exterior of the fish slightly, which helps it hold together on the grill and develop better char marks. Don’t go longer than an hour though, or the acid starts to “cook” the fish and the texture turns mealy.

Pro Tips

• Use a hinged wire grill basket if you have one. Swordfish is firm, but flipping individual steaks on an open grate still risks breakage.
• Oil the grill grate well before cooking. Swordfish sticks more than most meats.
• Cook 5 inches from the coals, not directly over them. Moderate heat lets the sauce caramelize instead of burning.
• The fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork. Overcooked swordfish turns dry and chalky fast.

Variations

• Add a tablespoon of smoked paprika to the simmered sauce for a deeper, smokier flavor.
• Grill thick tuna steaks instead of swordfish using the same method.