Mexico: One Plate at a Time (2003)

Season 4: Episode 1

Wading through the surf at Guayabitos, a charming fishing village on Mexico’s Pacific coast, Rick sets off in search of the ultimate catch—the Mexican seafood dish that captures everything that’s perfect and irresistible about a day at the beach. For starters, he checks out what’s shaking at a thatch-roofed laguna-side restaurant not far from Puerto Vallarta, where the “specialty of the hut” is Pescado Zarandeado, “Shaken Fish,” seasoned with a sweet-spicy red chile marinade, flame-seared and flipped over hot coals in a special grilling basket. At home in Chicago, Rick shows us how to recreate this dramatic dish on a backyard barbecue. Then it’s back to Mexico City, to check out the cooler side of seafood at the sleek, modern Manzanilla restaurant, where a lively young couple from Baja California serves up a series of refreshing raw seafood specialties with the Zen-like simplicity of a cutting-edge sashimi bar.