Seafood continues to inspire the consumer market through retail and restaurant portals.
Here are a few tips you may find useful,
Once you have purchased your selection, place it in low temperature surroundings, ideally 31° F. Changing temperatures provides breeding grounds for bacteria, so it is important that fish be kept at a constant, low temperature. Keep fresh or smoked seafood products refrigerated at 32-24° F. The best method for thawing frozen seafood is under refrigeration. Seafood can be thawed quickly under cold running water, if necessary, with the original wrapping intact. Keep frozen products rigidly frozen until ready to use; store in freezer at 0° F.
**Rinse whole fish, fillets and steaks with ice cold water, but remember that fresh or very cold water will kill shellfish.
**NEVER CROSS-CONTAMINATE – Always handle raw and cooked seafood products separately; sanitize work space between preparations and serving of seafood. Keep raw and cooked products from coming in contact with each other.
**Live shellfish should be stored under well-ventilated refrigeration, not in air-tight plastic bags or containers – they need to breathe. Store in the refrigerator with damp paper or cloth towels over the live shellfish.
Remember, all raw foods contain bacteria. Handle seafood as you would any perishable food products . . . keep properly refrigerated, cook adequately and handle with safety in mind. Here are some tips to extend the shelf life and retain the quality of your seafood purchases:
1. When refrigerating fresh product, keep only 3-4 days.
2. Thawed frozen seafood should be used within 24 hours.
3. Frozen seafood, depending on the type, can be held up to one year, if maintained at 0° F.
4. Freeze seafood only in deep freezers; refrigerator-top compartment freezers normally don’t get cold enough to protect for long-term freezing.
5. Try freezing seafood with a glaze of ice. Rinse with ice water and lay on a tray in the deep freezer, when frozen, repeat the process once more. This gives a solid, air-tight glaze of ice to protect against freezer burn and rancidity.
6. When freezing Oysters, try putting them individually in an ice tray, covering each one with their own liquor.
7. When freezing Crawfish, first par-boil them by dipping in boiling water for about 1 minute.
8. Always clean seafood properly before freezing.
9. Never refreeze seafood
10. Slowly defrosting, either in the refrigerator or under cold water, are the best methods
Always start with the freshest product possible. Do not delay in freezing your purchases. REMEMBER: Freeze fast; freeze solid, freeze airtight, and freeze fresh!
Like finfish, shellfish should not be overcooked. If cooked too long, it becomes tough and dry, and will lose much of its flavor. Cook shellfish very slightly. You can actually see when it is cooked:
1. Raw Shrimp turn reddish pink and firm
2. Shucked Mollusks become plump and opaque
3. Mollusks in their shells will open (ALWAYS discard any shells that do not open during cooking)
SELECT THE COOKING METHOD BEST SUITED TO YOUR SEAFOOD SELECTION:
Low-fat fish (fat content lower than 2.5%) is generally mild in flavor with tender, flaky, white or pale flesh. Because it tends to dry out during cooking, moist-heat cooking like poaching, baking while wrapped or covered in a sauce is recommended.
Medium-fat fish (fat content between 2.5% and 5%) adapt well to almost all cooking methods.
High-fat fish (fat content over 5% have a firm, meat-like texture, more pronounced flavor and deeper color than low-fat fish. Dry-heat methods such as grilling and baking are ideal for fatty fish, although poaching and microwaving also produce good results.
Finally, these wont make you a Culinary Chef but may keep you safer and more appreciative of the process finer restaurants adhere to for wonderful creations we all enjoy so much.
Chef2Chef News Desk