Fresh fish

How fresh is that fish? Follow these five tips to find out:

  • 1. Smell it. Fresh fish has little odour. If it smells really fishy leave it behind.

  • 2. Buy the freshest available fish, rather than deciding what you want before you get to the shop. "White fish" fillets (for example hoki, snapper or tarakihi) should be glossy and translucent with pale wet flesh. The fillet should be elastic when poked, and the blood vessels along the bone should be bright red.

  • 3. Ask to have a whole fish filleted if none of the fillets look up to scratch. Whole fish should have clear bulging eyes and bright glossy skin with a luminous wet sheen. The gills should be bright pink and have a fresh seaweed smell.

  • 4. Wrap a bag of ice up with your fish. If you buy it at lunchtime, store it in the work fridge.

  • 5. Eat fish within a day or two of buying it.


Report by Luke Harrison

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