How to Buy Fish

When buying fresh fish, it's important to know exactly what to look--and smell--for. These key points can save you from being disappointed when you're in the market for fresh fish.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

How to Buy Fish

1. Find a popular fish market or fish monger. Do this by asking people you know to ask people they know and so on. Good fish markets are few and far between, and they operate on word-of-mouth.
2. Smell the fish that you will be buying. If there is any kind of smell, do not buy it. Fresh fish has no fishy smell, despite what you may have heard or thought.
3. Look deep into the eyes of the fish you are buying. If the eyes are cloudy, the fish is not fresh. Eyes on a fresh fish should be clear with a slight bulge to them.
4. Look at the color of the fish gills. If they are any other color but bright pink or red, the fish you are about to buy is not fresh.
5. Feel the fish. If it is slimy, or the indentation of your fingers remains when you touch it and let it go, pick another fish--this fish is not fresh.
6. If your still not sure, take someone with you that knows exactly what to look for when buying fresh fish. Do not buy any fish unless your completely sure that it is fresh.