whitefish
Swordfish
Swordfish is dense and meaty, cut into inch-thick steaks that go straight onto a grill — enough fat to take direct fire, enough structure not to flake apart. It is also one of the highest-mercury fish sold, which the FDA advises pregnant people and young children to skip entirely.
In one line
Cooks like a steak, from an animal that heats its own brain.
Buy it if
You want something to cook over live fire that behaves like meat rather than like fish.
Warm-blooded, in the part that matters. Xiphias gladius has a specialized muscle behind the eyes that heats its brain and eyes well above the surrounding water, letting it hunt in cold depths. The dense, blood-rich muscle that comes with that lifestyle is exactly what makes the flesh steak-like.
Trim the bloodline. The dark red-brown strip running through a steak is oxygen-carrying muscle. It tastes strong and turns bitter with heat — cut it out before cooking if you're feeding people who claim not to like fish.
Mercury is a real caveat, not a scare. The FDA and EPA put swordfish on their "choices to avoid" list for pregnant and breastfeeding people and young children, alongside shark, king mackerel, tilefish, bigeye tuna, marlin and orange roughy. Large, long-lived predators accumulate methylmercury. For everyone else it is an occasional fish rather than a weekly one.
"Pumpkin" swordfish is a real trade term. Some fish carry orange-tinged flesh from a crustacean-heavy diet. It is prized, priced higher, and cooks identically.
Where it comes from on the animal
| Species | whitefish |
|---|---|
| Subprimal | steak, cut across the loin |
What else it’s called
How to cook Swordfish
| Best methods | Grill Pan sear Broil Smoke Oven roast |
|---|---|
| Skip | Poach |
| Cook to | 130°F. Roughly four minutes a side for an inch-thick steak over direct heat; past 140°F it turns dry and stringy. |
If Swordfish is sold out
Common questions
What temperature should swordfish be cooked to?
130°F, and no further. Dense as it is, it is still fish — past 140°F it goes from meaty to dry and stringy in a way a beef steak wouldn't. Inch-thick steaks take roughly four minutes a side over direct heat.
Is swordfish high in mercury?
Yes, and that is the main reason to eat it occasionally rather than often. FDA and EPA advice places it in the group pregnant and breastfeeding people and young children should avoid. It is a large, long-lived predator, and methylmercury accumulates up the food chain.
What is the dark strip in a swordfish steak?
The bloodline — dark, oxygen-rich muscle the fish uses for sustained swimming. It is perfectly edible but assertive, and it gets stronger as it cooks. Most cooks trim it off.
What else is swordfish called?
Broadbill is the common alternate name, from the shape of the bill. "Pumpkin swordfish" is not a different species — it is swordfish with orange-tinged flesh from a crustacean-heavy diet, and it sells at a premium.
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