How to Build a San Pedro Fish Market Super Tray

What's up, guys? Leslie Robbins here for Young Hollywood. If you are looking to eat some fresh seafood and a lot of it, this is the place for you. To my right, one of the owners of San Pedro Fish Market, Michael Angaro. Now I have to say, I think basically one way to sum up your place, if it swims, you cook it.

That's about right. Yeah. That's about right.

Look at all the beautiful colors here.

Yep. All fresh, beautiful seafood. Some of it, uh, locally sourced, some of it from around the world.

So talk about this restaurant. You see over 2,000 people outside. You're right in San Pedro on the port. It's, it's stunning.

So, so the business was started in 1956 by my grandfather, about a mile away. It was only, there were no seats in that location. And we sort of evolved and eventually we added bell pepper, tomato, onions, our own seasoning, garlic bread, tortillas, and it turned into what's now known as our world-famous seafood tray, or shrimp tray. And at this point, we've expanded so now we have actually 3,000 seats making us the largest restaurant in California. If not the entire country.

Okay, you had me at cooking and fish and lobsters. So let's just go in the back to get started.

Let's do it. You may have to participate today cuz the guys are a little busy, so I'm going to recommend that at some point you put this apron on just to keep you clean.

Because it's the size of me. Oh! I can't even lift it. What is this? Whoa. It's so heavy. Strong. Wait, there's more fun to be had here. Yes. We're just getting warmed up. Where are we right now?

So, this is our live crab and lobster tanks. This is where we first started cooking seafood before we added our kitchens. Uh, from here you can pick out local crab, Dungeness crab, um, if it's in season, local lobsters, and then we always carry main lobster. And anything you choose, we'll steam it for you fresh.

I recently learned how to grab a lobster, so let's do it. Have you squeezed him? He's not happy. He's not happy. He's not. Gently lay him back into his domain. Okay, bye. Bye. Okay, these are, uh, local lobsters or spiny lobsters. These are my favorite. Really good. Yeah. Okay, stop. No, whoa, no, whoa! Grab it. Stop! No! You're um,

Huachinangos. It's a Mexican red snapper. We get him in a couple times a week. They go pretty quick. One of our most popular items.

How do you do it? Is there one that would look better than another?

No. They're all about the same. Just depends on how hungry you are.

This guy looks good. Grab it by the eyes. No! Stop it! I can't.

There's nothing to hurt you there.

I can't. I can't do it. Oh no, I can't do it, Mike. I can't.

Okay. It's okay. Yeah. Let's go. Let's go prep this one to get it cooked. What we're going to do now. You ready to do this? We're going to scale this fish. Okay. You're just gonna start at the tail and go this way.

Oh. You got it. Look, look, you're doing it. I feel so bad. Awesome. That's it. That one's ready to go. You guys are known for your super trays. You are one of the top ten in the world most Instagrammed restaurants for seafood. Three times in a row. Boom. Those trays are global.

You know what, the the tray we're going to place it on, the way that I look at it, the way we look at it, is it's a canvas. And you paint it with your favorite seafood.

Okay, do I get to choose?

Yes, you are.

Okay. Do you want to put some Alaskan snow crab or Alaskan king crab in and then we'll be done. What's the difference between king and Alaskan?

One's the king.

I got it. Go over the king. The king of fish will pick the king Alaskan. Can I hold it? Yeah. Look at that bad boy. Sorry, almost put your eye out. Okay, so here we go. This is the fish that we prepared. It's going to be deep fried. This is a soy bean salad oil that we're frying. So it's not lard. What's happening over here?

Now those are fresh live lobsters that just came out of our crab tank and they brought them over here to get seasoned.

Now this is the swordfish. That's swordfish and this is the yellowtail. Okay. And then we'll put this, dump this one in here. We're going to do these last. This one's different. Okay. Nice. Those are little baby octopus.

Octopus. They're really good. They're tasty.

Veggies and potatoes. These are bell pepper, tomato and onions. Man. Be generous. Oh, look at that. Nice. This is why it's called the tray. We're using literally using our old school cafeteria trays. I use these in camp. I'll help you out. What do you think? You know, we forgot something though, but I'm Bam. Mexican red snapper. Can you eat all that? Cuz I got to go. I got another appointment. Done. You can use your hands, we encourage that, but you can use a fork as well. Taste that. Just go use grab it. Oh, it's warm. Yeah. Get some of the this. That is some of the freshest fish I've eaten. Good stuff. The best part is you don't need extra sauce to dip this food in. It's already coated in in an amazing sauce. Yeah. It's all you got to share with the octopus. Oh no. I'll have one of these. Okay. Maybe. What do you do? What do you do? Let's drink first. Cheers. Let's have a cocktail first, before first. Cheers. Okay. For you. You can bite it off. Just do the whole thing?

So the way I do it is, go with your thumb like this, and just kind of peel away the layers and then tail.