5 pro tips from chefs for buying salmon
I really like salmon: it’s one of those fish that you’ve probably known all your life (if you eat fish, that is). Safe and familiar, absolutely, and if you introduce your children to fish, chances are it’ll probably be a piece of salmon. But how do you choose the best salmon?
Whether you choose fresh or frozen salmon, there are a few things you can look out for in both cases so you’ll come home with delicious salmon. How you prepare it afterwards – in a pan or, like chef Davis Chang, in the microwave – is of course up to you, but here at FavorFlav we have plenty of great tips and recipes for salmon! In any case, several professional chefs offer this advice when buying salmon.
Farmed salmon isn’t necessarily inferior
Chef Larry White says that some people turn up their noses at farmed salmon (versus wild salmon). But according to him, farmed salmon is an affordable alternative to wild salmon, and one advantage is that it contains more (healthy) fat than its lean, athletic wild counterpart.
Salmon should be red or dark pink
The ‘flesh’ (the fish, that is) should be red or dark pink in color when you buy it fresh. According to White, there shouldn’t be any brown spots, and if the salmon looks pale, you’d better look for a more suitable piece.
Salmon shouldn’t smell fishy
As with virtually all fish you buy fresh: it shouldn’t have a fishy smell. That’s a sign the fish has been left out for too long. According to chef Hector Diaz, fish shouldn’t smell like fish, but like the ocean.
Watch out for freezer burn
Freezer burn isn’t harmful to your health, but it does give food an unpleasant aftertaste. It’s a shame when this happens to food you keep in the freezer (for example, your Ben & Jerry’s!), but fortunately freezer burn can be avoided. But if the salmon already has freezer burn in the store, you should definitely leave it there. Not all stores have transparent packaging, but still try to check when you see salmon in plastic packaging and want to buy it.
It’s all in the eyes
If you ever buy a whole salmon, it can cost you an arm and a leg. Online, you can buy a whole salmon weighing around 5 kilos for about €100 or more. The problem, however, is that online you can’t check whether the eyes are cloudy or sunken, which would mean that the salmon isn’t fresh. But this remains good advice for other whole fish you see at the market or fishmonger’s, for example: check that the eyes are clear and transparent, Diaz says, and slightly bulging.
Source: Eat This
Read also:
- Buying salmon at the supermarket: you’re often being duped
- Ottolenghi recipe: za’atar salmon with tahini
- People find the strangest things in their freezers and all of Twitter goes wild
