Tips on Selecting Fish

Freshness comes first

Trust your eyes and nose when shopping for fish. Look for fish with:

• Clear, bright bulging eyes and black pupils
• Shiny, taut, bright skin
• Red gills that are not slippery
• Fresh that feels firm, elastic, and tight to bone
• Moist, clearly cut fillets and steaks

What to avoid

• Strong "fishy" odor
• Dull, bloody, or sunken eyes
• Fading skin with bruises, red spots, or browning or yellowing
  at edges of flesh
• Raggedly-cut fillets and steaks

Frozen fish

Flesh should be solidly frozen and glossy without dry papery edges.

Avoid packages that have torn wrappers, frost, or blood visible inside or out.

Common fish forms:

Whole/round: as it comes from the water

Drawn: whole fish with internal organs removed; may or may not be scaled

Dressed: ready to cook; organs, scales, gills, and fins have been removed (pandressed fish have heads and tails removed)

Steak: ready to cook; crosscut slice (1/2 to 1 inch thick) from a large, dressed fish

Fillet: ready to cook; boneless piece cut from the side and away from the backbone; may or may not be skinned.