How to... pick fresh fish

1. If the fish smells "fishy" it is not fresh. Fresh fish smells only slightly of the sea.

2. The eyes should be clear and not sunken.

3. The gills should be dark red.

4. The flesh should bounce back when pushed with a finger. Scales, if any, should be firm and resistant. Some fresh fish has a sea slime on it, but it should not smell "fishy".

5. Keep fresh fish as cold as possible - 1degC is ideal, which is why fresh fish is usually kept on ice.

Daniel Pfyl, hospitality management lecturer at Otago Polytechnic, shares some professional techniques to make your cooking easier.

This week, how to spot fresh fish.

If you catch your own fish you know how fresh it is, but if you buy fish there are a few tricks to recognising freshness.

- Thanks to Blue Water Products Ltd for supplying the fish.

If you would like to request a particular technique, please let us know. Write to Trick of the trade, Editorial Features, Otago Daily Times, PO Box 181, Dunedin or email odt.features@odt.co.nz with trick of the trade in the subject line.

To check earlier Trick of the trade columns visit: http://www.odt.co.nz/news/tags/trick-trade More information on cooking from Otago Polytechnic can be found on www.otagocookeryl4.blogspot.com

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