Buying Fish
Fish can be sold in different market forms. This can make cooking easier but also mean that you may need to do some extra prep work depending on the type you purchase.
- Whole fish are sold intact with the head, gills, and guts still attached. Fish meat near the intestines can be bitter if the intestines are not removed.
- Drawn fish are whole fish with the intestines removed. Removing the guts makes the fish last longer in storage.
- Fish steaks are fish cut into cross-section slices each still containing the backbone of the fish.
- Fish fillets are boneless sides of fish.
- Butterflied fish are fish that are cut in half with or without the spine and head.
Freshness of Fish and Seafood
The best way to purchase fresh fish or seafood is to do a visual and physical inspection of the fish you want to buy.
First is the visual inspection.
- Buy fish that have extended/bulbous clear, bright eyes, this is an indicator of freshness. Fish with cloudy eyes should not be purchased. If they are cloudy but the rest of the fish looks perfect, it could mean that they were frozen too quickly after being caught.
- Fish that are shiny means that it was properly stored through a specific method to prevent the fish from drying out.
- Fish that have red gills that are drier are fresh.
- Seafood (ex. scallops, shrimp) that are discolored should not be purchased or eaten.
- Do not buy any cracked or broken shellfish.
- Do not buy frozen fish that has any excess ice crystallization or ice chunks crusted over it, because again it could mean that the seafood was defrosted and refrozen.
The second is the physical inspection.
- There should be no strong smell when buying fresh or already prepared shellfish or seafood. The smell should resemble a mild ocean/seaweed smell.
- Slimy fish or seafood should not be purchased or eaten.
- Buy shellfish that is alive.
- When you are buying canned seafood (like tuna, shrimp, salmon etc.) there are some things to keep an eye our for! Do not buy any canned food that has any dents, bloating, or rust. This could be an indicator that bacteria is forming.
- Whole fish should be shiny with intact scales.
- Fish filets should not be brown, yellow, or dry.
Let’s now discuss how to determine if the seafood that you have in your fridge is still safe to eat. When checking out your seafood, you should be wary of the following points.
As a rule of thumb, fresh seafood does not last very long in storage. Fish contains polyunsaturated fat which oxidizes faster than saturated fat therefore, fish is more perishable than meat. Keep in mind that the fattier the fish the faster it spoils.
- Fresh seafood/fish should be used within 1-2 days after purchase to ensure freshness.
- Cooked fish can last up to 3 days in the fridge.
- Opened canned fish can last 3-4 days in the fridge.
- Ground seafood should be used within 1-2 days.
- Low-fat fish can be frozen for 6 months.
- Fatty fish can be frozen for 2 months.
- Shellfish can be frozen for 3 months.
- Cooked fish can be frozen for 4 months.
If your seafood or fish has passed the couple-day mark in the fridge, then do a physical and visual inspection of the fish or seafood to see if it is still safe to eat.
Visual Inspection:
- Seafood (ex. scallops, shrimp) that are discolored (gray) should not be used for cooking.
- If you open your bag of mussels and you see any that are cracked or broken, discard them.
Physical Inspection:
- Shellfish should be alive when cooked. Shellfish are alive if their mouth is closed tightly and or if the mouths close when you tap on the top of the shell. You can also check shellfish by putting them into a bowl of water. Super light shellfish or shellfish that float to the top should be thrown out.
- If you cook the shellfish and some do not open their mouths discard any shellfish whose mouth is still closed even after cooking.
- If the texture of the shellfish is dry, slimy, or sticky then the shellfish is bad.
- Test the fish by pressing on the skin. If your finger leaves an impression, then that is an indicator that the fish isn’t fresh.
- There should be no strong fish smell coming from your seafood. The smell should resemble a mild ocean/seaweed smell.
Storing Fish and Seafood
When storing fish, you want to make sure you do not wash them before storing them. Fish are absorbent and when wet they will spoil faster in storage. Instead of washing just place the fish on a rack with a drip pan under it and cover it with plastic wrap.
If you plan to store fish for a couple of days in the fridge, then remove the guts. Keeping the guts inside the fish will make it go bad faster.
When storing live shellfish, you should not wrap them completely because to keep them alive they need air.
You can store seafood and fish in the fridge or freezer. When storing fish or seafood in the freezer it’s important to keep air off protein.
Before storing pieces of fish in the freezer, make individual-sized portions of fish and freeze them as individual portions. This is a better idea than defrosting whole cuts of fish and only using small sections of that larger cut. When you defrost and refreeze proteins the quality goes down and it can taste bad.
