Fishing for a tasty way to eat lighter and healthier this season? Your supermarket’s fresh seafood section is one of your best resources for seafaring proteins served in a variety of ways: baked, broiled, fried, steamed, poached, or even raw. The choice is yours! But, how to choose?
Enter your local fishmonger. After a quick chat with the folks behind the counter, you’ll be able to make educated decisions on what you buy, which leads to healthy choices for you and responsible choices for our planet. If you’re feeling extra motivated to do right by the environment, you can download the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch app. It identifies the best fish to eat, solid alternatives, and species to avoid based on how they are caught or farmed, and whether they are overfished.
Here are some questions to help you make the most of your fish shopping and eating experience:
Is it wild or farmed?
Wild fish are sold just as you’d find them in the wild (gutted and scaled, of course) and are, by definition, more natural. But these tend to be priced a little bit higher because they’re caught by good old-fashioned fishermen out on lakes, oceans, and rivers. Farmed fish are what you mostly see for sale at the supermarket. There's a common misconception that wild fish are good and farmed fish are bad, but it’s not that simple. The quality of these fish can vary greatly based on the location and methods used to contain, feed, and raise them for harvest. Your fishmonger can explain what’s what.
What is its country of origin?
This question is key to food safety. Some countries such as China, Thailand, and Vietnam have relatively low standards for raising and handling seafood.
When did it arrive?
This will tell you how fresh it is. We hope we don’t insult your intelligence when we tell you, the fresher the better. As long as it’s kept refrigerated and in its original wrapper, fresh seafood can typically hold a day or two before it has to be used.
Has it been previously frozen?
Fingers crossed the answer is “no.” But, if the answer is “yes,” don’t panic. Freezing food is a perfectly safe way to preserve its freshness. Just head on over to the frozen food case and buy it for about 40 percent less.
How should I cook it?
Let us count the ways! Your fishmonger will likely have a field day telling you all about the different cooking options for fish. One foolproof way to cook it is to season and bake the filets in a foil pouch. Lots of supermarkets actually offer to prepare this method for you for free. Take advantage!
Will the store marinate the fish for me?
Usually, yes. Sometimes, no. There’s only one way to find out. If they do agree to dress the fish for you, request that the fish be weighed dry. And before you commit to buying marinated fish, ask if the marinade is loaded with salts or sugars—overdoing it on these could wreck your plan to eat lighter and healthier.
