How to identify fresh fish and avoid purchasing stale fish

Fish is one of the most served foods in the world. every fish species have a unique taste and identity. This is true fish beneficial for human health, especially for the heart. Fish is one of the main sources of omega 3. Medical science has proven that omega 3 is very beneficial for the heart and especially brain growth during pregnancy. On the other hand, fish could be risky for your health if you failed to identify fresh fish. This is true that many people can,t identify fresh fish in the fish market and even can,t identify fish species. Today we will talk about how to identify fresh fish.

Some Factore behind fresh and Stale fish

Harvesting fish and taking it to market takes several hours. this process depends on the distance from the fish farm to the fish market. Then this fish takes to other cities and villages and sold in 2 or 3 days. If you live near the ocean then the process could be changed. First fishermen catch fish and bring it to the fish market to sell it. After bid fish travel for different cities, towns and villages. This process takes a couple of days.

Don’t worry after reading this article and following these instructions you will succeed to purchase fresh fish from the market. I live in a small town distance from approx 40 kilometres from the main city. the main city is away from 700 to 800 kilometres from the ocean. that’s the reason farm fish is sold in the fish market. Rohu, Dambra, silver carp, and Catla fish species are common in the fish market. These fish species are affordable and cheaper than other fish species. I love Dambra fish and Catla fish. seafood is rare in our city due to the high price. The price of seafood could be 3x or 4x that of farm fish.

If you are living near a city near the ocean then you can purchase seafood. I have no experience with seafood but you can follow these tips to identify fresh fish.

1 check fish eye

If fisheye is open and clear then this fish is fresh. Fisheye will be closed as fish stale. If the fisheye is closed and blurry then avoids purchasing fish. 1st-day fish eye fully opened and shiny 2nd day going to dim and blurry and 3rd day near about close. You can identify any fish species with this method.

2 red or pink gills

When we take out fish from the water fish all blood starts extracted from the fish’s body and stored into the fish gills. Red gills is the best way to identify fresh fish. Red gills like blood colour is the main identity of fresh7 fish. As fish stale gills change colours to marron colour greenish or dark red colour. Open fish gills with your hands or demand a fishmonger to open fish gills for checkups. Never purchase fully red or dark green colour gills fish. This fish is risky for your health.

3 Fresh Fish identify Body

If you dislike touching fish for identifying then you can’t purchase fresh fish. Press fish belly with a finger and check that fish meat is hard. The Fish belly should be firm and not squishy and soft. The body of a fresh fish is always strong. As the fish becomes stale, the body of the fish becomes soft. However, in shopping malls fish is stored in ice this process keeps the fish body hard due to freezing the fish’s body

4 Skin

When I go to the fish market. I always stop at the stall where I find reddish-skinned carp fish.

Some fish spices like Wallagu Atto, pangasius, basa and other fish in this family’s skin colour could be different from than carp fish family.

Wallago Attu AKA Malli fish skin is plain and greyish or silver in colour. As Wallago Aatto’s fish stale his skin start to scratch.

This is a basic identification of fresh fish. After Harvesting fish from the fish farm, cutting its stomach spreads all the blood on the stomach of the fish and the skin of the fish. Fish skin absorbs the blood and looks reddish. ٰAlthough fish sellers shower water on fish to maintain the water level in the fish body this step decreases the reddish skin to white. In Shopping malls, fish is stored in cold storage after washing it. then it is difficult to identify fresh fish. you can trust on expiry date tag or the fish seller.

5 Taste of fresh fish

fish is a time recipe and takes time for better taste. In my opinion, 2 KG fish take 2 days to enhance taste after applying the spice paste. I always use fish within 3 days because after the 4th-day fish reduce taste. Never use if you feel the fish taste is not good to prevent food poisoning. If you are purchasing fried or other recipes fish always demand fresh fish. At home, this is up to you that frozen fish in a deep freezer for longer use. But I prefer never to use fish for more than 3 days. Always defrost fish and drain water from fish bodies. After defrosting fish keep it in the basket to extract water.

These are the 5 basic identification tips to identify fresh fish into the market or fish stalls or hotels. Never compromise with your health to purchase stale fish.

The true incident of my life about purchasing fresh fish

Once we go to our near city house for a fish party after Eid ul Adha. All market was close only one fishmonger was selling fish one few fish lefts. My friend checked fish and one fish was stale. He purchases all fish with one stale fish. We came home and prepare fish. When we start frying fish smells start. When we taste fish the taste was very bad we check all fish but the taste remained bad. We put all fish into a polythene bag and throw it away from home. All fresh fish lose taste due to one stale fish. So never purchase a stale fish with fresh fish.