Fish

• General & History
• Varieties of fish - with links to details of preparation and cooking (big page, lots of pictures)
• Fish Products - food items made from fish and fish eggs.
• Fish Anatomy
• Best Fish for:
  • Soups & Stews
• Buying & Storing Fish
  • Buying Fish
  • Thawing Frozen Fish
  • Storing Fresh or Thawed Fish
  • Freezing Fish
• Cleaning, Filleting & Preparing Fish
  • Cleaning & Filleting Round Bodied Fish
  • Cleaning &Filleting Deep Bodied Fish
  • Cleaning & Filleting Flat Fish
  • Skinning Fish Fillets
  • Dealing with Tiny Fish
  • Dealing with Small Bony Fish - Indian Mackerel, etc.
  • Dealing with small flounders - Rex Sole, etc.
• Making Fish Stock - for soups and stews.
• Cooking Methods
  • Baking
  • Broiling
  • Deep Frying
  • Pan Frying
  • Grilling
  • Poaching
  • Steaming
  • Cooking Time Chart
• Health & Nutrition - Omega 3, Mercury, Worms, etc.
• Links - To more information on fish.

General & History

Fish have been trapped for eating in lakes and rivers since paleolithic times and even sea fishing predates the dawn of history. Fish farming began in Egypt at least 4000 years ago with ponds of Tilapia.

Varieties of Fish

Our Varieties of Fish page lists fish that are either of wide culinary interest or marketed in Southern California. It's a very large page with a lot of pictures so be patient if you have a slow connection. Most fish on that page will have a "Details and Cooking" link to a detail page specific to that fish.

If you want more fish, or more information about a particular fish, Fishbase (F9) lists over 35,800 species of fish under over 330,300 common names and with over 65,100 photos (2024) - but they have no culinary information at all.

Buying Fish

The three keys to buying fish are Fresh, Fresh and Fresh. The advantages of buying whole fish are that you can be sure what kind of fish it is (deception is rampant, both deliberate and accidental) and judge freshness more easily. You can also use the head, bones fins and sometimes skins to make fish stock, important for many recipes.

• The eyes should be clear and not sunken. If the fish was previously frozen (most fish these days) the eyes may be a little sunken, but not badly, and should still be fairly clear.
• The flesh should spring back when poked.
• There should be no strong fishy smell. Very fresh fish have almost no smell, and smell becomes stronger the longer they've been dead.
• Shark, skate and ray will have a distinct ammonia smell if not fresh. Just a faint trace you can deal with but if it's more, pass.
• The gills should be bright red. If they are light color or grayish the fish is old. The brightness varies with fish variety and depending on if the fish has been frozen but should never be gray. Note that in some cases the blood runs to the lower gill of a fish on its side so the top one may be pale but the bottom one is bright red. This is OK. They should never be clogged and icky looking.

Of course, if you buy whole fish instead of fillets you'll have more work preparing them for cooking, but you'll also have the ingredients for fish stock for excellent fish soups and stews. Most fish markets will scale and clean the fish you have selected without charge.

Another reason to buy whole fish is that you know what you're paying for. "Substitution" is rampant in the fish business, and even in pricey sushi bars, especially for the more costly fish.

Commercially frozen fish can be very fresh because on modern fishing ships fish can be deep frozen immediately after being caught. Farmed fish is also often frozen immediately and without processing. Commercial freezing is done very quickly at very low temperatures so there is almost no damage to the flesh from growth of ice crystals. At fish markets these frozen fish are often put on ice and allowed to thaw slowly as they wait for a buyer.

Fish too be eaten raw (sushi, sashimi, poke, etc.) should meet certain processing conditions. Details for this will be found on our Sushi Grade Fish page. Also find more information from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (F6).

It's best to buy fish from a source that does a lot of volume. I buy mostly from markets serving a large Asian population because their standards of fresh are more demanding than at your average supermarket (I've even seen fish still flopping around on the ice in Asian markets). Volume tends to be very high at these markets. At one Philippine market in the San Fernando valley I counted 8 guys on the scale and clean line working as fast as they could.

Some mainstream supermarkets tend to use expiry dates at the ragged edge and apply "Special Today" stickers on the last day, so know your market and take care.

Keep frozen fish frozen until just before needed - a cold water thaw is fine. Use it within a couple months at most. Frozen fish still degrades in your home freezer compartment due to normal temperature fluctuations, particularly oily fish like mackerel, tuna and salmon. They will be rancid and inedible in just a few months.

Thawing Fish

Almost all sources recommend thawing meat, fish and poultry in the refrigerator - a method that takes almost forever and is impossible for those of us who start our meal planning as we start to cook. They all warn NEVER (emphasis their's) thaw at room temperature.

This advice is Total Bunk, originating from the FDA with no research to back it. Not only is it unpredictable (refrigerators vary) and risks cross contaminating ready-to-eat foods in the fridge, actual research has shown higher bacterial growth than when thawed in cold running water or just sitting on the counter at a cool room temperature. This applies to all frozen food, not just fish.

Even the hard core bacteriophobes at the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) do not object to room temperature thawing in food processing facilities. Research supports that position.

The key to safe room temperature or cold water thawing to not let it sit beyond thawed. Fortunately these methods don't require you to start thawing much before need, but if you find you just aren't ready to cook yet when nearly thawed, wrap it in a watertight plastic bag and refrigerate until needed.

Storing fish

Fresh or thawed fish needs to be eaten as soon as possible, but sometimes we just can't eat it "right now". Properly done, you can store it in a good refrigerator for a day or even two, but otherwise you have to freeze it. Even if you have to refreeze fish that had been commercially frozen it'll still be fine if you follow the method below.

The best way to store fresh or thawed fish overnight (some report good results for 2 days) is as shown in the photo.

The bowl has ice in the bottom and the fish is on a grate so all juices fall into the bowl below. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate. The grate shown is a wok steamer grate purchased from an Asian market.

Freezing Fish

The faster fish is frozen the less damage there will be to the flesh. If it freezes slowly, larger ice crystals will grow breaking up the cell walls.

1. Prepare the fish for cooking. Cut it into the thinnest pieces suitable for the mode of cooking you will use. Keep parts in a bowl of ice water as you work.
2. Make sure the fish is as near freezing as possible all the way through. Again, the bowl of ice water, or soak in the coldest part of your refrigerator for a couple of hours.
3. Lay out a thin sheet of plastic film on a flat surface, such as a baking sheet and spread pieces of fish on it in a single layer, making sure there is good air circulation.
4. Place in your freezer compartment and keep the door closed as much as possible until the fish is frozen through.
5. Bag in plastic when thoroughly frozen. Seal the bag.

Cooking Fish

The objective, when cooking fish by any means, is to cook it the minimum time that will cook it through. Frying fish can be an exception since the objective is to be crusty brown on the outside, but keeping the oil hot enough for thin pieces and not too hot for thick ones will get your crust without burning the outside or overcooking the fish.

Cooking Fish Whole - Why?

Servings:

Baking Fish:

Broiling:

Deep Frying:

Pan Frying:

Grilling:

Poaching:

Steaming:

Health & Nutrition

Fish are naturally very healthy and nutritious. In particular fish oils are the most effective source of Omega 3 fatty acids, thought by current medical knowledge to be effective against heart disease and clogged arteries. Some are, however, reluctant to recommend eating fish because of the concerns listed below.

Mercury

Mercury in fish is generally a non-problem, but there are exceptions. in the 1960s hundreds of people in Japan were disabled and/or died from nervous system disorders acquired from nearly daily consumption of fish heavily contaminated with mercury. Mercury content was generally between 9 and 24 ppm (parts per million) with some as high as 40 ppm.

The U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) set a maximum mercury content of 1 ppm for fish consumed in the United States, but admitted that level was purely a guess, and a conservative one. There was no reliable data on mercury exposure much lower than that experienced in Japan. This safety margin is very conservative, considering Americans don't eat fish every day. Certain large predatory fish (sharks, swordfish, largest tuna) can reach or exceed this level but most fish are far lower.

The FDA could not determine the level that might affect the nervous system of a developing fetus, but issued strong warnings for pregnant women to avoid certain types of fish. This lack of data has resulted in some studies.

A long term study by the University of Rochester and the Ministry of Health in the Seychelles islands has reported in. Pregnant women in the study ate an average of 10 times the amount of fish eaten by American women (there's not much else to eat there). Their children were well over 15 years old when the study concluded. Sponsors of the study were "shocked" (their word) to find no adverse affects whatever. Mercury levels for ocean fish are pretty uniform worldwide (except for a few spots with heavy industrial pollution), so these results have broad application.

The FDA maintains a table of tested mercury content for a wide range of commercially important fish and shellfish (F2). Note that this table is for wild caught fish - farmed fish are unlikely to have a high mercury content due to type of feeding and short life. They have finally partially remedied the tilefish problem by separating Gulf of Mexico tilefish from low mercury Atlantic and Pacific tilefish.

Unfortunately, a whole industry has sprung up based on panicking people about "mercury in fish". While actual data supports that fish is safe to eat from a mercury standpoint, certainly in the amounts most Americans consume, there are now whole businesses and careers that thrive on the "mercury danger". How could certain "health product" promoters sell their expensive krill oil if you realized you could just go out an buy a mackerel?

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and other advocacy groups continue to present mercury proclamations, often tricked out with highly questionable or deceptively presented "scientific" data, to promote their own objectives - and their objectives may not be at all related to your health. One recent study by the Biodiversity Research Institute has been declared "Fraudulent" and scientifically unsupported by the National Fisheries Institute.

Given that the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has not registered a single case of mercury poisoning from fish, recommendations from the FDA and EPA, the Rochester Study (F3) and general demographics of fish eating populations, it seems pretty conclusive that fish are safe to eat from a mercury standpoint. As of 2014, the FDA and EPA recommend pregnant women eat more fish.

Parasitic Worms in Sushi

Anisakid Nematodes

Tapeworms

For details how to safely prepare fish for eating raw (sushi, sashimi, poke, etc.), see our Sushi Grade Fish page. Also find more information from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (F6).

Ciguatera Poisoning

This is the foremost cause of reported food poisoning from fish. Large predatory fish in tropical reef areas can be highly toxic. Eating them results in a range of frightening symptoms caused by damage to the nervous system. Treatment is difficult. Barracuda is the most common source of this poison but amberjack, red snapper, grouper and other predatory fish in tropical regions can be sources. For detailed symptom and treatment information see F7.

A single-celled protozoan, Gambiendiscus toxicus, adheres to algae growing on coral reefs. Small fish that eat the algae become contaminated with ciguatoxin from these protozoans. Larger fish eat the small fish and are in turn eaten by large predators with the toxin becoming more concentrated at each step up the food chain.

Effective testing is seldom available for this toxin so fish cannot easily be certified safe if from a suspect region. This poisoning does not occur in non-tropical areas or far away from the reef environment. Barracuda taken off the U.S. Pacific coast are free of the toxin but Florida barracuda should be eaten only if quite small.

Histamine Poisoning

Some fish, particularly family Scombridae (Mackerel and Tuna), if not properly handled, are subject to bacterial action resulting in production of histamines. An overload of histamines causes tingling of the lips and mouth, skin rashes, vomiting and other symptoms that may last for as long as 12 hours. In most cases it is not dangerous, but in the case of persons with allergy to bee and wasp stings it can be serious. Such persons should be careful about fish they eat and should carry anti-histamine remedies.

Drugs in Fish

Prescription medications in sea life is a rapidly increasing problem. In most regions it is more dangerous to sea life than to humans, but due to unique conditions in Florida, concentrations are being found that can be a risk to humans. Most common are Statins, Beta Blockers (heart medicine), Opioids, Anti-psychotics, Fungicides, and Antidepressants. These have been shown to affect the behavior of sea life, including fish and what the fish eat. This subject needs a lot of study of effects and remediation. Sewage treatment methods do not currently remove these contaminants. For details see F4.

Other Health Problems

Some fish are just plain toxic and consuming them will kill you dead. Most famous is the puffer fish known as Fugu in Japan where it is a highly prized and hideously expensive delicacy. Fugu chefs are trained, licensed and regulated because one mistake made in preparing the fish can kill customers, and sometimes does.

As with Ciguatera Poisoning, the Fugu accumulate the toxins from their diet. It is easy to farm raise Fugu that is not toxic at all, but the Japanese have shown no interest in Fugu that does not carry the risk of death.

Fish from particular locations at particular times can be contaminated with bacteria or pollutants and be unsafe to eat. "Red tides" are particularly noted for this. Check the local government's Web site or with local fish and game authorities when catching fish in areas you are not familiar with.

Links

• F2 - Mercury Table - U.S. Food and Drug Administration. - Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish.
• F3 - Seychelles Mercury Study - University of Rochester. - New Studies Explore Impact of Mercury on the Brain There is much more on the study on the University of Rochester web site.
• F4 - Prescription Drugs in Fish - Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.
• F6 - Parasites in California Fish - California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
• F7 - Ciguatera Poisoning from Fish - Cleavland Clinic.
• F9 - Searchable fish list - Fishbase.