People ask me all the time about what they should be looking for when picking fish and what they should be looking for. I will address these questions but also would like to add that the freshest fish is not necessarily the best tasting. Before you start saying that I must be crazy and putting words into my mouth, let me explain to you what the average consumer puts into their mouth as far as fish is concerned.
Did you know that anyone who buys fish at the local supermarket is purchasing fish that has been out of the water for at least four days or more? A good fishing operation will catch and bring to port their load within a 12-hour period, and that load will be packed and shipped overnight to your local wholesale seafood purveyor or the market’s distribution center. But that only applies to the best operations, do you think that the others will bring in a catch by sundown so that they can ship it overnight? Probably not, so they get to port the next day and ship it by ground and it will get to its destination in a day or two. Then, from there, it will be shipped to the local supermarket where it is put out on display for you to buy.
Is it any wonder why so many of the seafood departments that I walk by smell “fishy.” When our fish is delivered or when I go see the wholesalers I buy from, it never smells fishy. There is this slimy coating that protects fish from infection when they are still alive, that has an ocean-y slightly acidic smell to it, that is all that I smell or sometimes blood of the fish.
Getting back to the protective slime on the skin of the fish, if you still have that on the fish, you have a fresh fish. But most likely, only those who fish have ever felt fish slime. It’s that thing when you go deep sea fishing with live bait and after you have put that anchovy, sardine, or mackerel on your hook, the slippery substance that you have left on your hands.
So, if you have slime, then it’s fresh and you don’t have to look for the other signs. Ok, well you say that you have never seen slime on the fish you buy whether it is because you buy filets or fish that has been fabricated in some way, then the next would be color. Are the colors bright? If the skin is still on the fish, are the colors still bright or is the skin a lot greyer than it should be. How about the meat, are there hints of pink, or a bright red or orange, or a clear white, or is the meat taking on a grey or a dull hue, or even worse a yellowing tinge. Eww. Also, by this time you should be able to smell whether the seafood department is fishy smelling or not. Another factor to look for is the eyes, are they round and clear or dull and shriveling? If they look like the eyes of your favorite pet goldfish or cat/ dog, then that is a good sign.
Look for the continuation of this article in the January 2010 issue of The Magazine of Santa Clarita.
Maru Restaurant is located at 24250 Town Center Drive in Valencia. For more information, please call 661-290-2595.