1. Freshness. The most important thing that you should look for when buying seafood is the freshness of the food. It is imperative that you know how long ago the seafood was caught. It can be dangerous consuming old or rotting seafood. Develop a relationship with a worker that the fish market who can fill you in on all the detail you need to know about the seafood. Ask questions before you make the purchase. Expect to pay higher prices for freshness.

2. Quality. Not only does the seafood need to be fresh, it needs to be of the best quality. You want to ensure that you get the best pick of the crop. Don’t settle for leftovers or seafood that has been picked over. Get to the fish market early so that you can get the best choice of seafood. The quality seafood will disappear quickly.

3. Where is it from? Knowing where your seafood comes from can ensure that you are getting a fresh, quality product. If you live in a town where the ocean is near, you can almost always guarantee that the selection will be fresh.

4. Buying from a fish market is highly recommended. A fish market is without a doubt the best place to purchase seafood. Vendors often jack up the prices. If you get the seafood straight from the market, you can often eliminate the middle man and save some serious cash. Choose to purchase your seafood from a vendor.

5. Avoid seafood that contains a milky liquid on the outside. When buying seafood, you want to thoroughly inspect it first. If you see a milky liquid forming on the outside, do not purchase the product. This is the first sign that the seafood is going wrought. Know what to look for in the type of seafood that you are purchasing.

6. Choose to buy seafood that is still alive. If you get to the fish market early enough, you can ensure freshness by purchasing seafood that is still alive. This way, you can weed through the crop and choose the freshest of the catch. Refuse to purchase seafood that is dead. The more cautious you are about this, the more money you will save by purchasing only seafood that is fresh. You won’t have to throw any out when you get home!

7. Do you prefer frozen? Some people simply do not live near a fish market and are left no other choice but to buy frozen seafood. This isn’t always a bad thing. Go to your local supermarket and talk with the workers in the seafood market. They can fill you in on where the product is from and how quality it is. Some people actually prefer frozen over fresh because it can be easier to prepare. You can buy it cleaned and deveined to help make your life a little easier.

8. Should seafood smell? Many think that there is a natural seafood smell that comes with purchasing seafood. If the seafood is fresh, it will not smell immediately. The fish smell actually takes some time to develop. When looking for freshness, learn how to distinguish the smell of fish. The worse it smells, the older the seafood is. Choose seafood that doesn’t smell at as bad.

The tips above will help you choose the freshest and highest quality seafood on the market. Visit your local fish market and gain experience in buying seafood. Once you do it a few times, you will begin to know what to look for. Each and every trip will result in high quality seafood for you and your family. Will you be having seafood for dinner tonight? Choosing the right product will make all the difference in the world.

Marina is a freelance writer and writes about specialty products like full length mirrors, bedside table lamp, etagere and lot more.

How To Make A Cream Cucumber Dressing

• In a bowl combine 11 cup sour cream; 1/2 cup chopped, peeled, and seeded cucumber; 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish; 1 teaspoon grated onion; 1/2 teaspoon salt; and dash freshly ground pepper.
• Chill thoroughly

This cucumber dressing recipe goes really well with the gefilte fish recipe we will be posting in the next few weeks!

Fish is very nutritious and when prepared properly very tasty.  But it all starts with getting your hands on the freshest and best fish that you possibly can.

How To Buy Fresh Fish

If you don’t live in some fancy schmancy lake front cottage with your 2.5 kids and ivy league educated spouse, then I assume that you don’t wake up in the morning go down to the water’s edge and catch your own fish.  Well that is really a shame.   You, like the rest of us poor souls,  are going to need some tips on how to buy fresh fish.  If on the off chance you do have that unique and picturesque lakeside cottage that my wife keeps dreaming about then you can skip this article.  I would imagine you could just send your chef out to get the fish while you play croquet or badminton or whatever you rich people do during the day.

When you buy fresh fish you will have to decide on what form you want the fish in.  Your options are whole, cut in fillets, steaks, or chunks.  When you buy a fresh, whole fish, you should be on the lookout for these attributes:

• The flesh of the fish should be elastic, yet firm
• The eyes should be bright, clear, and bulging
• The gills should be red, if they are still intact
• The inside of the fish should be bright pink or red

You should avoid fish that have a strong odor and a dull, slimy skin.  If the scales and fins have not been removed, ask to have this done for you at the store.

Or you can buy fresh fish that has been cut into steaks, fillets, or chunks.  You won’t be able to check normal exterior signs—eyes and gills—but these cuts should also be firm and have a fresh appearance.  Avoid the fish if it is dried out around the edges.

Buying fresh fish takes time and effort to get right.  But if you don’t take the time or put in the effort at what to look for you will be very sorry.

Buying Frozen Fish vs Fresh Fish

It takes a lot less skill when buying frozen fish rather than fresh fish.  The best frozen fish is available for everyone to enjoy.  When buying frozen fish, look for tightly sealed and wrapped fish that is solidly frozen without frost on the inside or outside of the package.

Buying Canned Fish

Canned fish is a good way to buy seafood if you don’t have a decent grocery store nearby.  There are several different types of fish that can be bought in the can.  Some of the fish are packed according to the size of the pieces, while others are packed by species or in flavored sauces.

You can buy canned sardines, canned albacore, you can buy canned salmon, and you can buy canned tuna.  Perhaps the best canned food you can possibly buy is canned wild Alaskan salmon.

How you are going to use the canned fish will determine what kind of fish you should buy.  For example, tuna is available in various sized pieces.  Use fancy or solid pack when appearance is important; chunk-style for casseroles; grated or flaked for sandwich spreads.  Other fish, such as salmon, are packed according to species.  the deeper red species, such as chinook and sockeye, break into larger flakes for salads, while pink and chum are best for loaves because they break into smaller flakes.  Other fish, such as sardines and herring, are available packed in variously flavored sauces.

Really good fish recipes start out with really good quality fish.  Always remember when buying fish to take your time and make sure that you are buying a fresh healthy fish.

The secret to this creamy fish taco sauce:  Yogurt.

There is also another secret that most people don’t know about, but you can read about it in my incredibly simple easy fish taco sauce recipe.

The sauce you will be making is a white fish taco sauce that is very creamy.  So without any further hype or needless hyperbole here is my secret recipe.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon “white” ground pepper (make sure it is white)

How To Make The Best Fish Taco Sauce Recipe On Earth

1. In a bowl mix the yogurt, mayonnaise and pepper together
2. Chill in the fridge
3. Serve

Don’t screw up the best fish taco sauce recipe on earth by trying to change it or make it more complicated.  You will be messing with perfection.  I don’t imagine I need to tell you the penalty for messing with perfection.

This is an easy fish taco sauce recipe that anyone can make in order to get their fish to taste better.  We have many other seafood recipes for you to take a look at besides this white creamy taco sauce recipe.

A whole lobster, like other type of shellfish, cannot be eaten very daintily.  This is one type of food  where it is necessary to use your fingers with dexterity.  Actually I can think of lots of different types of food that you can eat with your fingers, but I’ll save that for another day.

You can rest assured that whole lobster will never be served at a very formal meal.  It’s just to messy and too much work.  Keep in mind you already took a shower, shaved, combed your hair, put on some fancy duds, and drove the minivan all the way to this shindig.  How much more work do you need to do just to eat some grub?

You can begin eating a whole boiled or broiled lobster by grasping the body in one hand.  With the other hand, twist off the two large claws of the cooked lobster.

Working with the large claws, use a nutcracker or some other utensil, such as a mallet or jackhammer, that will crack the claws.  Remove meat with nutpick or seafood fork. 

With the large claws removed, grasp the body and the tail with both hands.  Arch the back of the lobster until it cracks.  Then, separate tail from body.

Remove meat from tail by loosening it with a seafood fork.  The meat is then cut into bite size pieces and eaten with the small seafood fork.

Pick up the body section and crack it in half to expose the meat.  Using a fork, remove and eat the meat, red coral roe, and brownish green liver.

You’ve got to be pretty freaking hungry to go through all of this mechanical garbage just to eat dinner.  A nice Hebrew National on the BBQ is starting to sound pretty appetizing right about now.

Before you begin your lobster feast, whether it is broiled, boiled, or baked stuffed lobster, you will need to slap on a king sized plastic, cloth, or paper bib or napkin around your neck to protect your clothing.  Another reason for doing this is because you haven’t quite looked ridiculous enough up to this point.  In for a penny in for a pound.

You will also need a large napkin for your fingers because if you thought ribs were messy you are about to enter a whole new world of culinary drippings that you won’t soon forget.

Nutcrackers and nutpicks or seafood forks are among the utensils you will need to eat the lobster.

As the meat is extracted from the shell with a fork, dip the meat into a small, individual container of melted butter or desired sauce.

Now you know how to eat a whole lobster.  You can impress your friends and loved ones as you embark on a all night journey into the abyss just to eat some food. You’ve just got to wonder if eating crab is easier.

We are going to briefly talk about crabs (how interesting) and then how to eat crab.  We will touch on blue crabs, hard shell crabs, and how to eat a soft shell crab.  I have to admit people’s fascination with the proper way of eating all types of shellfish is to say the least, a bit obsessive.  I guess we all want to impress our fufu friends.

To start with, you should do some of the hard work in the kitchen.  The dinner table is no place for you to be performing kung-fu tricks on a crab.  Make eating a whole hard shell crab simple by pre-preparing the crab for consumption.

In the kitchen you should pull of the hard shell, removing the gills, spongy digestive organs, cartilage, and the triangular flap from the underside.  It is also helpful to have the legs separated from the body and cracked.  If this is starting to sound like a mafia movie you are not alone.

All that will be left for you to do when eating is to remove the meat from the claws, legs, and body with a nutpick or seafood fork and dip the meat into melted butter or cocktail sauce.  A nutcracker may be necessary for additional cracking of the claws and legs.  Often another plate or bowl is used for the discarded parts, or you can place shells to the edge of the dinner plate.

Soft-shell blue crabs are cleaned like the hard shell crab, and the legs generally are broken off before cooking.  The outer covering is edible, but it may be peeled back, if desired.

Not only do crabs taste good but they also require some work in order to eat them.  There is nothing quite like a meal that also doubles as a workout routine.  Now that you know how to eat crabs perhaps you should check out the rest of our seafood recipes which includes the very popular and informative How To Eat Clams guide.

Eating clams is not for the faint of heart.  You must take this activity seriously and get it down so that you won’t embarrass yourself at that fancy dinner that you are invited to in the Hamptons.  There really isn’t anything in the world like eating raw clams with a bunch of snooty people that have more money in their pocket then you will have in your lifetime.  I’m just saying.

When you eat hard shelled clams on the half shell either raw or cooked, the muscle is sometimes already loosened from the shell.  If not, steady the clam with one hand and loosen muscle with a small, seafood fork.  Yes that is what that small fork is for.  You’ve been wondering about it since you were a kid!

To eat steamed soft shell clams (steamers) from the shell, however, a different technique is used.  First make sure that you discard any clams that have not popped open during cooking.  The entire shell can be picked up in the hands.  If not fully opened during the cooking process, the first step would be to open the shell fully, bending it backward at the hinged part.  this process should be done over a dish or plate since there will be some liquid in the shell.  Then, holding the hinged clam shell in one hand, pull the clam free by grabbing the neck (long slender part).  Pull off the black neck cover.  Hey, if this was easy the clams wouldn’t taste nearly as good.

Using the neck as a “handle,” dip clams into a small cup of clam broth to remove any sand that might be present.  Then, dip clams into an individual cup of melted butter and put the clam in your mouth.  Place the shell to the side of the plate or put in separate dish.  At the end, you can drink the clam broth.

Now that you are an expert on how to eat clams, going out and performing this culinary act should be no problem for you.  Seafood recipes are delicious and very nutritious.  You should make them part of your weekly menu.

As an added bonus the nutritional value of seafood is well documented.  It is hard to come up with a more healthy food than fish!  Fish is a great food to get a daily dose of high quality protein, and it also comes jam packed with minerals, such as iron, iodine, calcium, phosphorus, copper, and potassium.  But it doesn’t stop there…Most fish also come with some essential B vitamins!

If your on a diet then the next bit of “fish” news will have you doing back flips in the water.  Fish have very little sodium and because fish are low in fat and low in calories, they make a superb menu item to use when putting together meals for low sodium and low calorie diets.

Did you know that there are over 240 different varieties of fish or shellfish for you to choose from when planning a meal?  Now that is what I call variety.  You never have to worry about not being able to find fish at your local grocery store.  Some fish are seasonal and come and go during the year, but there is always plenty of fresh, frozen, and canned fish that are available 365 days a year.

Fish is a wonderful food to work with in the kitchen.  It is not only nutritious, but it also has a delicate flavor that blends with with most other foods.  The soft and tender texture of fish goes extremely well with the crispness of a salad, relish, or vegetable.

Seafood also wears many different hats!  It doesn’t just have to be the main course.  It can be yummy appetizer, a scrumptious soup, a tasty salad, or even a gourmet sandwich.

Fish cooks very fast so it comes in handy for people that work all day, have kids to take of, but still need to provide nutritious and delicious meals at lunch and dinner time.  You should combine fish with other foods that are mild in flavor and won’t overpower the delicate taste of the fish.

Fish and all seafood recipes makes for a delicious meal that is also very healthy to eat.

• Combine 1 cup sour cream, 3 tablespoons drained prepared horseradish, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and dash paprika.
• Chill thoroughly

Cod recipes often call for the “real thing”.  The recipe writer expects you to go out to your boat, throw the fishing line over the side and catch the fish.  Not us!!  Go to the store and pick yourself up some cod fillets.  Cod fish recipes need not me an all day excursion on the “Minnow”.  We don’t want you getting lost at sea.

How To Cook Cod Fish With Catalan Spinach

Ingredients

Catalan Spinach

• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 11 1/4 cups baby spinach leaves, rinsed and shaken dry

Cod

• 4 cod fillets, each about 6 ounces
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• lemon wedges, to serve

Cooking Directions

1. Put the raisins for the Catalan spinach in a small bowl, cover with hot water, and set aside to soak for 15 minutes.  Drain well.
2. Now put the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium-high heat and dry-fry for 1-2 minutes, shaking frequently, until toasted and golden brown:  watch closely because they burn quickly.
3. Heat the oil in a large, lidded skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, or until golden but not browned.  Remove with a slotted spoon and discard.
4. Add the spinach to the oil with only the rinsing water clinging to its leaves.  Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes, until wilted.  Uncover, stir in the drained raisins and pine nuts, and continue cooking until all the liquid  evaporates.  Season to taste and keep warm.
5. To cook the cod, brush the fillets lightly with oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper.  Place under a preheated hot broiler about 4 inches from the heat and broil for r8-10 minutes, until the flesh is opaque and flakes easily.
6. Divide the spinach among 4 plates and place the cod fillets on top.  Serve with lemon wedges

I wouldn’t suggest a potato recipe with this dish but cooking cod fish and enjoying your dinner can still be a wonderful experience.