I was not really an expert in detecting fresh fish that can be cooked and served in every meal that we had. I started going to the market to hunt and buy fresh fish just this July 2008 as my wife and I started to live in one household… that was right after our wedding.

I am the one given the task to buy fish, meat, spices, vegetables, and fruits in the market. And every time I visit the market, I really tried hard to learn few things about the freshness of these things that I need to buy.

Since one of our subscribers via email asked me how to recognize fresh fish, then I will try to answer his question based on the knowledge that I got after observing and comparing fresh fish with bad fish. The email goes:

Thanks! Since my wife works far from our place, she comes home late at night. So, I am doing what she was supposed to do for us like shopping and cooking dinner. Almost everyday, I am encountering this “problem” on buying fresh meat and fish. I can’t figure out if those meat or fish were fresh. Upon reaching our house to prepare those, on washing, I found fish as soft with foul smell on their stomach.

I was advised to choose fish with “hard” body and clear eyes. How could I then recognize fresh fish when you informed me that if they are stiff (Hard) with fresh eyes are preserved with formalin.

The Fresh Fish

Live fish is really fresh. When I was still in Surigao City, I had no problem buying fresh fish because early dawn you could find a lot of live fish at Surigao City Wet Market.

However, if you found no live fish in your market then you need to examine the fishes for their freshness.

Actually, there are few things that you should consider as you examine the fish in the market for their freshness. And these are:

1. Eyes
2. Gill
3. Blood
4. Odor
5. Tenderness

(1) Fresh Eyes

When you are about to kiss your wife on her lips, you look first into her eyes, isn’t it? And that’s what you need to do first to the fishes on the market stall. Look into the eyes of the fish… and read what the eyes of the fish are telling you (just kidding).

Fresh fishes have live and clear eyes. If the eyes are cloudy then that fish stayed on the iced box for several days already. If the eyes of the fish look old, or full of wrinkles, then I’m sure that fish is dead for a long time already.

However, if you badly need to buy a fish but you couldn’t find any fish with live and fresh eyes, then you can still consider those fishes with cloudy eyes. Just make sure those fishes could pass the next quality test.

(2) Fresh Gills

After checking the eyes, then check the gills of the fish. Fresh fish has deep red or dark red gills and usually has sticky mucus-like liquid on it.

If the color of it is already pinkish, it means that the fish is already stocked on the ice for several hours. But if the gills look gray or brown, then reject them. They’re bad already.

But there are vendors who wanted to cheat their customers by soaking the fish with gray gills on the water with red food coloring or with fresh blood.

To know if the gills really are fresh, try to wipe the gills with your thumb. After wiping, if the color remains deep red/dark bright red then that fish is really fresh. But then after wiping the gills, the color of the gills became gray, then that fish is already dead for a long time.

(4) Fresh Blood

Fresh fish has fresh blood.

If the blood of the fish is already pinkish, it means that that fish has been soaked in sea water with ice for a long time already. This fish might be good to be cooked and eat but it’s not fresh already.

But don’t be fooled of the pre-sliced fish meat that has fresh blood. Some vendors cheat their customers by wiping fresh blood into the pre-sliced fish meat.

(5) Fresh Odor

Now, try to smell its odor. Fish with fishy odor is already bad. Fresh fish should smell like moist, sea breeze, and fresh. Actually, it’s hard to describe the fresh smell of the fish. But I think you can compare its fresh smell to the smell of fresh fruits.

Now, if the fish you found smell bad (offensive, foul) and smell like a shit, then that fish is already getting too old to be cooked.

(6) Tenderness

Now, if you still want to make sure that the fish that you’re about to buy is fresh, then try pressing its body or flesh gently. Fresh fish has firm and elastic flesh and it should be bounced back in its place after you press it.

In other words, if the flesh of the fish is already soft and that after touching its flesh the mark of your thumb remains on it, then that fish is dead for a long time already and it started to rot.

However, don’t be confused of the firm flesh of the fish with the stiff fish. Fresh fish with firm flesh is like a spring. If you hold the head of the fresh fish and shake the fish, the body of the fish should bounce.

On the other hand, the fish preserved with formalin is stiff and therefore doesn’t bounce back like a spring if you hold its head and shake its body. Even if you soak it in water for a long time, it remains stiff.

But not all stiff fish are preserved with formalin. There are stiff fish that are preserved in freezer or in a box filled with ice. However the stiffness of this fish will be lost after you soak it in water for several minutes if not hours.

More tip…

Now, the best thing to do when going to the market to hunt for fresh fish is to bring with you an ice-box with ice. Place the fish or meat you bought in that box to preserve its freshness.

By the way, the tips that I have given are just few of the things that we need to know when hunting fresh fish. I know, some of you have more ideas on how to find fresh fish that I haven’t learned yet. Please share your ideas by posting your comments at our comment section or by replying this email that FeedBurner has sent you.

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