I Bought Illegal Seafood in Mexico!! Becoming a Criminal!!

foreign we're exploring Mexican seafood three rows of razor sharp teeth don't put your fingers in there from local Classics this is like my new favorite food to Ocean creatures you need to hide from the police police police police that's right keep driving keep driving keep driving but first let's back up okay we're moving from the state of Yucatan to the state of competent to a coastal city that goes by the same name here they have some of the most wide-ranging Seafood options you'll find in Mexico of all colors bordering on giant to very tiny there are species I've never seen before it's kind of like the fish is its own cooking vessel and species I didn't expect to see it's like a Mexican tiramisu but instead of layers of coffee and chocolate it's just like beans and sharks surprisingly are the ocean animals you may not realize are illegal it's weird that somebody sold that to you but it's some seafood it's illegal to have sell or eat then why is it for sale well that's when I'd come here to find out this is compete's biggest seafood market ready to eat street food produce sections adorned with locally grown fruits freshly slaughtered Meats hanging waiting to be made into something delicious then there's a seafood plug straight from the ocean Basin known as the Gulf of Mexico here I'm searching for an epic catch to contribute to tonight's meal but beware beneath the surface of the Ruckus and clever of this Market lies in unnerving truth right here I found something very unique Seafood creatures that should never have made their way here it is disconcertingly slimy it feels just like one big long muscle I've never seen a presentation like this because they've taken it out of the shell already it smells good actually it smells fresh this is a horse conch one of the largest carnivorous sea snails in the world that's like a bicep that's like a trapezoid little did I know in this moment that harvesting selling or eating the horse conch is completely prohibited by law here in Mexico the deal is that later today we're going to a fisherman's house so we're going to have a little bit of a seafood party I think I want to bring a couple of these in case he knows how to cook them and if he doesn't well we're gonna figure it out probably we'll make ceviche laughs [Music] people work around Seafood they're the most fun in the market basically they were meant to be entertainers and somehow they're selling Seafood for a living that is a cross section of a stingray you can always tell because there's like a huge meat filet on each side and then this is the the dried meat version I suppose right here this is called a dog shark this is actually the food that we came here for soon this is gonna become our breakfast dish I don't know what happened someone made a movie about a killer shark and then everyone hated sharks and then Gordon Ramsay made a documentary about sharks and now everyone loves sharks can you guys make up your mind eyes on compete's famous shark brand Layman which starts as a shark soon becomes this the filet is grilled over charcoal giving it a rich Smoky flavor then it's boiled until the meat is tender and ready to shred down to a mint with the shark complete the sauce is on Deck a tantalizing blend of diced tomato onion and spicy habanero the mixture hits hot steel with the perfect combination of seasoning after adding shark meat to the sauce it's time for the build a base of tortillas on the flat top then a layer of creamy beans another tortilla more beans or special sauce and a generous heap of shark meat then another layer and another layer and five layers stack it up just before the point of architectural failure then garnish with habanero and slices of avocado so how do you dig in just go for it I'm gonna see if I can cut it like a pizza it's kind of working it's tripping I know they put a load of sauce on here it's basically like a tortilla lasagna with shark meat in between that's how they describe it smoking a little sour I would say salty and I would say you can feel the protein more than you can taste the protein they use baby sharks because they do not taste as fishy as the big ones does that break your heart that it's a baby shark of course doesn't it break your somehow I get by it yeah the mound of tortillas creates an interesting texture I can taste the beans in there very nice for you is shark and unusual food I guess no but when I've eaten this before I never thought like oh I'm eating sharks I'm just like I'm eating fish yeah no big deal our mission today in compete is to experience the whole wide-ranging world of seafood that they have here I even picked up some things that I think you have never tried before I found some snails this one is it poisonous I hope so that'd be exciting right so exciting I mean if somebody dies in a video from eating a food guaranteed a million views let's hope we die well not both of us you die from here we're heading to a restaurant that's discovered the secret to selling an endless supply of giant crab claws for eternity people from all around the world come just to eat this it's right here I'm sorry what these are stone crabs famous for their sweet juicy meat and they're abundant and competites nearby Waters this is very unique because I notice you only have the claws where's the rest of the crab the crabs have two hands a big one and a small one they just take the big one and they let it leave with a small one until another big one grows like plucking an apple from a tree this system of harvesting has been around for Generations in order to preserve the crab population it's not merely a suggestion but a strict legal mandate to never harvest the crab's body if you catch it you could eat it at home but you cannot be seen on the streets with it yeah wow Mexico is full of these gray areas we just came from the seafood market are there certain foods in the seafood market that you cannot serve at restaurants never in the life we could eat a red snail oh really it's always an interesting day when you accidentally become a criminal it's weird that somebody asked me sold that to you oh they certainly did my curiosity has been peaked by the fact that a banned animal could be openly showcased in a busy Market to gain a better understanding of what's going on I've invited fishermen Rubin to join us for a meal and shed some light on the matter we have this beautiful Feast very delicious and very typical from here in Capuchin which one for you looks more appetizing the octopus is boiled until it's fully cooked through violently pan-fried to its Smoky flavor flavor caliber of flame could deliver one like this and it curled up a little bit [Music] you like that right it's monkey it tastes just like a kiss of fire on there it's got a wonderful texture suckers are crunchy on the outside wow this sauce smells amazing the salsa is called which is butter garlic with parsley we're gonna have stinky breath yeah maybe if you're about to go on the first date don't do it or if you're on the first date don't do it otherwise if you're an established relationship especially me where you've already grown weary of your marriage have as much as you want the chef first boils our giant crab claws then shatters the thick shell to reveal the succulent meat that lies within flavor with salt pepper and tangy lime juice the recipe is simple but from my experience less is more especially when it comes to crabs so there's some lime right here I'm going to give it a little bit of a spritz and I don't see any salt so what do you do oh there's some salt right here you know that it's salt because on the container it says pea for the salt it's sweet it's medium it's delicious it's cold sometimes I don't mind heavy and cold so it can bring out a different flavor in the crab now we gotta try it with the garlic this is like my new favorite food it's like all the flavors and all the convenience all in one place I feel like there's a casino in my mouth and I just hit a jackpot and the best companion for whatever foreign fantastic as a fisherman what fish are illegal to keep sharks there are seasons where you can do it they just have to respect the reproduction time in an effort to control population decline certain species like the shark or octopus can only be fished during designated Seasons right now what is the penalty if you're out there if you're catching octopuses out of season you don't have a permit in jail and they take your boat oh it sounds pretty serious that's pretty serious but other vulnerable species like the horse Kung are banned from being caught or sold completely with this incriminating protein in hand I'm curious to see how seriously these laws are taken today at the market I bought something I didn't know it was potentially illegal when I bought it but it turns out it is illegal and you cannot sell it at restaurants I'm wondering if we can take it to your house to cook it no no oh okay because it's in camera and temperature is very small and he could get in trouble got it clearly locals here are familiar with the seafood laws and they're sufficiently motivated not to break them at least not on camera so why are some willing to take such a risk also what legal options do I have for dinner to find out we're visiting Abraham a friend of Rubens who's already fixing up an exotic but still legal local delicacy the website is cool what do you do at the school administration well you love to cook it's your passion yep I I love to eat our passions are going together real well right now this evening's appetizer Cowfish a member of the boxfish family with the super ability to release toxins from its skin that are lethal to other fish for humans the toxins should be harmless at least that's what they told me now the perfect salsa joins this herd of cowfish a fresh mix of onion habanero cilantro lime and salt this is just the start of Abraham's Taco Master P the only thing I don't understand is how do we get the meat out could you please show us he kind of just is peeling it off a bunch of weird bones and organs we don't want any of that oh you sure yeah I'm pretty sure it really it looks like chicken breast he puts that on a tortilla that was delicious hit it with a little bit of salt oh my God it's like a whole recipe some avocado and that is complete um [Music] it just has really such a robust bite to it what do you think it's a little bit like polio player it doesn't taste fishy at all neutral and man the salsa you put on here is delicious I taste habanero Citrus spice it's incredible yeah you can smell it but not taste it that is just the start we have a lot more to go let's keep moving okay dinner starts with the Bonnet head shark he chops it into chunks and boils some meat for 20 minutes once cooked it's ripped into bite-sized pieces then gets benched as more food comes to play real pineapple red onion and habanero where'd you learn this recipe from you know they have improv comedy classes do you think they have improv cooking classes because you would absolutely win blend with cilantro a pinch of salt and a touch of Honey cook that blend in a pan add in the shark meat and let it soak up all those flavors being on a boat especially at night it's so peaceful I think it's just usually better if you're in the water that's what's more usual oh okay we have an amazing spread here my man you can cook your ass off first of all in the pineapple I mean what kind of amazing presentation is this I got a big heaping pork bowl of shark let's try it out [Music] not fishy at all oh no it's beyond being not fishy it's really refreshing there's a nice bit of heat back there first you get that sweetness from the pineapple and then suddenly you're like and then your throat closes the fish itself soft slightly mushy it pairs well with the sauces he's put in here you get a little texture from the onions so good and the pineapples are so delicious the first drink of the night when you know there's going to be so many more it's so good oh the police are actually right there everything's cool turns out it's actually illegal to drink beers outside but we don't give up we're bodies you think I care about anything [Music] next food right here fried fish done the compete away Abraham first skillfully fillets the very much not illegal Barracuda then Seasons to meet with pepper salt lime juice and lemon pepper before frying the potential for a crispy outer shell is created using flour egg and bread crumbs [Music] where do we go I just grab a piece with the hands that looks nice try a plane whoa [Music] you can taste the fish but it's not fishy it's beautifully fried and the seasoning on that fish it's slightly sour slightly fresh I love how in so many of the recipes we've tried on the Yucatan Peninsula here they use so much Citrus this is a green sauce it's very potent what is it made of garlic habanero and oil is it spicy yeah there's still some things in compete that don't add up to me that I don't understand and those are about the food that I tried to bring here I showed you the sea snail immediately when you saw it he said oh no illegal can't buy it can't cook it not even have it in your house here's the part I'm confused about I went to the market I filmed the scene The Cellar was right there he didn't care why if he can sell he's gonna do it but if he sees the police coming he will just hide it just like a dream we hit the Bears same so in a way we're all working our way around the system whether you're the guy poaching octopus without a permit whether you're the guy selling the snail or whether you're us illegally drinking beer in a boat I think I Now understand Mexico cheers to that [Music] if the consequences are so extreme why would people still risk it um they need to feed their kids families it's a necessity in the end the snails I purchased will likely be discarded still the vendor profited from our transaction likely motivating him to Source more snails to sell in the future just like that my ignorance has in some small way contributed to perpetuating a seafood Black Market that chips away at the species odds for survival best ever Food review show is a small team of independent creators and everything we do here works because of you guys click the link in our description to join our patreon and receive exclusive benefits a peace I think we we solved it we solved uh global warming remember when I was talking about the lizards and how they could just take the tails off it's the same idea they just regrow it brilliant thank you so much that's all I wanted was your validation I like that our looks couldn't be any more different right now she looks like a sad teenager and I look like a guy who lies to women and tells them I have a boat and that's aphrodisiac is that needed because I've noticed you can just kind of walk into almost any pharmacy in Mexico and you kind of just get what you want it's like a medical Buffet don't we'll get demonetized what's this right here uh that looks like a fish it's very delicious because it's white meat so just needs a little bit of salt and salsa and avocado and a tortilla but that's it and so you have tasted the body before or did you read about it in a book his mother-in-law prepares your mother-in-law had the crab [Music] I don't know if you think I'm going to say more words or you forget that you have to translate because usually you talk a lot like a lot so I think you're going to speak more okay boom guys that is the end of our Mexico series I want to say a huge thank you right here to k manak k handshank wow I mean your character Arc throughout this whole series you went from not really wanting to try anything spitting out beef tendon to look at you now it was a roller coaster but it was good at the end do you feel like you grew as a person totally a lot if you want to follow Kate on social media look up Kate manok on YouTube Instagram and everywhere anyways guys that is it for this one thank you so much for watching I will see you next time a peace we gotta say it together a peace oh we harmonized a little bit you know I think I could sing too Let's Walk This Way could I do like a rap bridge in one of your songs yes I'm looking for an artist to do that can I do nine bars you could do 12. I don't I just do odd numbers of bars I will do 11. okay deal

Channel: Best Ever Food Review Show

Views: 3,967,349

Keywords: Best ever food review show, befrs, sonny side, befrs team, food, around the world food and culture, mexico, yucatan, maya, maian people, aztec, seafood, illegal seafood

Id: T5DHrjVp_Zs

Length: 17min 27sec (1047 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 16 2023