How do I buy raw fish to serve at home?
A chef who has served thousands of bowls of poke answers a question she hears all the time about how to buy and serve raw fish at home.
I want to make sashimi, crudo, and poke at home. How can I tell if a fish is fresh enough to serve raw? How do I store and serve it so I don’t give my family food poisoning? What fish should I buy?
As someone who has served poke for 12 years, first from my former food truck Poi Dog Snack Shop, then from my former restaurant Poi Dog, and now intermittently for pop-up events and supper clubs, this is the question I get asked more than any other.
If you’re planning to serve or consume raw fish, you should get it from a fishmonger — someone who cuts and sells fish on-site. Some grocery stores do have them, such as Whole Foods and Sprouts; both are decent options for acquiring responsibly raised or caught fish.
The problem with shopping for fish at grocery stores is the typical lack of conversation between customer and fishmonger (you need to ask if you can serve something raw), and the lack of labeling (you might only get a “sustainable” sign behind the glass, but who designated it sustainable, responsibly raised, or caught? Has it been treated with chemicals? What were the steps used for parasite prevention?).
So a knowledgeable fishmonger is essential for getting and serving the highest-quality fish. We’re lucky in Philadelphia to have direct access to fish suppliers that serve both restaurants and retail customers high-quality seafood. Samuels Seafood is the biggest fish in this pond, and from their headquarters in deep South Philly, they serve restaurants up and down the East Coast. You don’t need a wholesale account, though: You can shop from Giuseppe’s Market, its retail customer-facing arm. Fishtown Seafood’s three locations are also excellent options.
Talk with your fishmonger
A fishmonger can point you in the right direction and tell you what in their inventory is most appropriate for raw applications. I asked Bryan Szeliga, the owner of Fishtown Seafood, what he does when a customer comes in asking for fish suitable for sashimi.
“I let them know what is and isn’t sashimi-quality,” he said. “Our laws and regulations are a little wonky, as they don’t relate to shelf life, timing, or freshness, but mainly parasite mitigation. Other than 13 species of tuna, wild fish needs to be super frozen to kill parasites, but farm-raised fish may be issued certifications showing that there are no parasites in their feed.”
Don’t be alarmed hearing that your fresh seafood has been frozen at some point. Even the highest-quality fish does not go straight from the water to the display case: Many species are required to be frozen at -4 degrees Fahrenheit or below for seven days, or -31 degrees or below for 15 hours.
Deep-freezing the fish has other benefits. If you’ve shopped at any big-box grocery store, you’ve likely encountered bright red tuna, thinking the color indicates that it is good and fresh. This is rarely the case. Usually it means that the tuna has been treated with carbon monoxide; this turns the tuna a vibrant red by binding to oxymyoglobin in fish, a practice that our local fishmongers steer clear from.
“There are two ways to keep tuna from turning brown: It either needs to be treated with gas or held in a super-frozen environment,” Szeliga said. “All the tuna we bring in is super frozen to -76.”
Store it correctly
Wherever you get fish, once you’ve purchased it, it must be stored properly to reduce spoilage, which of course, you may be able to detect with your nose (if it has a rotten odor versus a fishy, marine one) or through touch (if it feels slimy or mushy). Regardless of species, spoiled fish will smell sour and like ammonia.
The goal is to keep it cold and dry. At my former restaurant, we served staggering quantities of fresh fish in the form of poke. After breaking down the fish into loins, sections, or whatever pieces we needed, we wrapped them in parchment paper, then put them on a bed of ice set in a perforated pan that was then set into another non-perforated pan, which caught the water as the ice melted. This two-pan set up was then placed at the back — the coldest part — of our walk-in refrigerator.
To translate this to a home kitchen, put the parchment-wrapped fish in a colander of ice over a bowl at the back of your fridge — not near the door, where temperatures can fluctuate due to doors opening and closing. It should also be placed on your bottom shelf (to avoid fish drippings from contaminating other foods). This will keep your fish fresh and generally OK to consume raw for one to two days after purchase; after that, you should cook the fish. It will last in your fridge up to four days after being cooked.
Fish I buy to serve raw
Less familiar species, like Arctic char or sablefish. There are more (and less expensive) fish in the sea than salmon and tuna. In terms of aquaculture fish, I take Hawaiian kanpachi from Blue Ocean Mariculture over tuna and use Riverence trout as a replacement for salmon. Diversifying your consumption helps natural fish stocks from being depleted.
Local. If you are in close proximity to fishing, minimize your seafood’s carbon footprint and go with something caught nearby
What my friendly fishmonger tells me looks good that day
What I avoid
Bright red tuna wrapped in plastic at the grocery store with no labeling about where it came from or how it was caught or raised.
Serving fish raw that has been in my refrigerator for longer than two days, even if it looks or smells fine.
Fish that has clearly been stored improperly (it should be on ice, in the store and in your home).
Wasting fish scraps. After cutting fish down to serve as sashimi or poke, make a stock with the bones, save the head for curry, and scrape and fry the fish skins for a snack.
Have a question about what goes on behind the line in restaurant kitchens? Or how to handle food like a chef? Or where your food comes from? Hands, Please is a new advice column in which Inquirer food writer Kiki Aranita puts her years of working as a chef to use answering your questions about the kitchen — in restaurants or in your own home.
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