How to buy fresh fish
November 19, 2009 • Hello. I am currently out of the country and unable to respond to comments and e-mails. Rest assured, however, that future posts have been scheduled so new recipes will go live almost everyday during my absence. I'll be back soon with lots of stories and photos. Ciao for now! ~ ConnieI’m not a huge fan of wet markets because wet markets in the Philippines are not exactly the most sanitary places. There are good ones, of course, like Farmer’s Market in Quezon City. And if we lived somewhere in the area, you’d probably find me there most mornings. Unfortunately, Farmer’s Market is more than an hour away and I have to live with supermarket-bought fish most of the time. There are days, however, when I get the craving for really fresh seafood and those are the times when we drive down to Taytay where the public market is much better than what we have here in Antipolo. We were there yesterday, and bought catfish (hito), mudfish (dalag) and tilapia. That’s butterflied mudfish in the photo.
In an ideal world, we’d all have access to live fish so we can enjoy them really fresh. But we don’t live in an ideal world. Most of the fish we find in the market had been transported from some faraway fish pond and it’s too much to expect them to survive the trip with all that ice in metal buckets. But just because a fish is no longer alive doesn’t necessarily mean it is no longer fresh. What exactly does fresh mean? In simplest terms, it means no bacterial growth has started to infect the fish.
Consumers like us don’t go to the market carrying tools, instruments and chemicals to test bacterial growth before buying fish. We learn to tell the freshness of fish by looking, smelling and touching.
One of the earliest things I was taught was never to buy fish with cloudy eyes because cloudiness was a sure sign of not being fresh. I followed that rule for years and years until, about two years ago, I had the pleasure of witnessing a bangus (milkfish) harvest in a fish pond in Roxas City. In the process of moving the live fish from the pond to the vat with huge blocks of ice where they are allowed to expire before they are weighed, the trashing fish hit one another and eye injury was one of the most common results. So, the condition of the fish eyes, to my mind, is not a good way to judge its freshness.
The best way to find out if a fish is fresh is to smell it, touch it and look inside the head to inspect the gills. To say that fresh fish shouldn’t smell fishy is ridiculous. If it doesn’t smell fishy, it isn’t fish. So the fishy smell is there even while it’s still trashing about. What it shouldn’t have is a rotting smell. I know it’s not that simple since, inside the market, the smell of rotting fish entrails can be overpowering but, trust me, there is a difference in the way fresh fish smells. It’s like the smell of the sea.
When you touch the flesh of fresh fish, it should be firm and your finger should leave no long-lasting indentation.
Check the gills. They should be bright red and not the shade of dried blood.
What about when buying fish fillets when the gills can no longer be inspected? With fillets, the flesh should be intact. When you lift the fillet, the flesh should not separate in parts. If there are yellowish spots or dry-looking red-black rims along the edges, move to another fish stall.
If you want to read more, click on the thumbnails.
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- Fresh catfish and mudfish
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- Fresh tilapia
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- Preparing fresh fish
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- Butterflied mudfish
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- From the market to the frying pan
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Thanks for the tips. Until now, di pa rin ako marunong on how to choose fresh fish.
A brother-in-law of mine happens to go to Bataan for business once a week and he goes home laden with fresh salmon, tuna, etc. Parang masarap na home-based business ito kung may time lang.
wow this is very informative I havent tried buying fish by myself its always my mom or grandma but you know this article is really great!
I want to try buying fish myself!
oh wow, i think you bought your fishes from my aunties ms cons. =)
Lemon, mahirap din kasi masanay sa frozen fish. Iba pa rin ang lasa.
Nibbler, there’s always a time to learn. And it’s a very useful skill, at any rate.
Haidee, really? In Taytay?
yes ms. cons. we’re really from taytay just moved here in angono some 20years ago. yun po talaga business ng mga auntie ko kahit dalaga pa sila. they also have special bagoong na sila nagpapack kaya malinis talaga. they also sell bangus pero thurs po kayo ata nagpunta kaya wala, weekends kumpleto lahat from dalag to bangus, before may alimango at alimasag din. =)
Nakabili na ako ng bangus sa kanya. Pina-relyeno ko pa nga.
that’s nice ms. cons, suki ka na pala nila. hihiritan ko para maka discount po kayo.heheh =)
Hahaha wag na. Okay naman prices nya. Very fair.
wow ms. connie i see you’re using your outdoor kitchen na.
hope to see more pics of you in action at your outdoor kitchen.
Yes, so much more relaxed to cook outdoors. No need to worry about fishy smell and oil splatter.