There is no other food where the general public is more uneasy and uncertain as with fish. More importantly, people aren't sure tell if the fish they are buying is fresh. Because the way to tell is shrouded in mystery, there are a many consumers who would rather forgo buying and cooking fish than trying to learn determine this themselves. That is a shame, because telling if a fish is fresh is easier than you think, and once you know how, fish will be back on your menu again in no time.
Instructions
1. Buy the whole fish, when possible. The easiest way to ensure that you have the freshest fish that's available to you at your local store is to buy fish whole. This doesn't mean that you have to go home and debone the fish yourself. Almost every single grocer and fishmonger in this country will debone and filet the fish for you, for no extra fee. They'll even take the skin off, if you like. What buying the whole fish ensures, however, is that this fish hasn't been around long enough for them to take the time in cutting it up and repackaging it. Those filets of salmon and sole wrapped in plastic have been sitting around a lot longer than that whole fish that's staring back at you from behind the glass. It's quite a bit easier to tell if a fish is fresh by looking at the whole fish, as well.
2. Look at the eyes of the fish. If you look into the eyes of a freshly caught fish, you should see clear black pupils and nothing else. If you look into the eyes of a fish caught a week or several weeks ago, however, the eyes will be much cloudier. The cloudier the pupils of the fishes eyes, the older the fish.
3. Feel the texture of the skin. A freshly caught fish has a firm, tight skin that is shiny. A fish that has been caught and put on ice for several weeks will have a much different feel. The skin will be quite a bit duller and the feel of it will be slick and sometimes even slimy. If you see a fish that has skin that is slimy to the touch, avoid that fish.
4. Smell the fish. The old insult "smells like fish" should really be amended to "smells like old fish." That's because freshly caught fish don't really smell like much of anything. If you put your nose over the top of a whole, freshly caught ackerel, all you would smell would be seawater. A slight, saline scent is the most you should ever smell from a whole fish. If you start smelling something "fishy" or, even worse, ammonia-like odors, that fish is old and might make you sick. Avoid it at all costs.
5. Check the gills. The gills are right behind the "cheeks" of the fish, and are concealed under fin-like flaps. This is how the fish breathe underwater. Freshly caught fish have bright red gills. If the gills on your fish are brown or grayish, don't cook this fish--it isn't fresh.
6. When in doubt, buy frozen. This may sound strange, but freezing technology has improved so much in the last couple of decades that fish that are sold frozen will be fresher than anything you can buy unfrozen. This is especially true with exotic types of fish that are harvested from across the world, like Bluefin Tuna.
Tags: whole fish, caught fish, freshly caught, fish that, fish that, that fish, eyes fish
