The United States imports roughly 80 percent of the seafood that its population consumes on an annual basis, says the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. According to the International Trade Centre, a multinational business-related agency that tracks statistics related to many different areas of global commerce, the United States imports more seafood than any other country on the planet! Since Americans haul in so much seafood from other countries each and every year, we should all be able to tell a difference between exclusive and middle-of-the-mall grades of seafood. Here are several indicators that aren’t too difficult to use.
Look To See If Raw Fish Meat is Gaping
In healthy fish that are processed properly, the flakes that make up the bodies of such fish are packed tightly together. Raw fish fillets should never feature holes between these flakes, no matter how large or small those holes are. Fish fillets with flakes that are separated far apart suffer from gaping, a condition in processed fish characterized by far-apart flakes. This is caused by the processing of frozen fish, very cold fish, poor handling, and fish that have been dead a long time before being processed.
Blood-Spotted Cooked Fish Is Bad News
If you order a fish fillet that has small red spots throughout the cut or seafood, it can be said that the fillet is blood-spotted or that it showcases signs of blood spotting. Blood spotting generally results from highly-active fish being processed before fish perish. Highly-stressed fish are also prone to blood spotting. Ultimately, blood spotting comes from stress.
Smell of Seafood
Rotten fish or seafood that has been stored past its expiration date smells far more pungent than its fresh counterparts. To differentiate between normal seafood smell and the odor of expired seafood, spend time around raw fish and get to know what good seafood smells like when raw.
At The Boiling Spot, we pride ourselves in consistently being rated as one of the best plano tx seafood restaurants. Come try our seafood, test our seafood for these indicators of quality, and get some practice in grading the ocean’s highest-quality seafood products.