Fish and Seafood

Street FoodsChapter 3: Fish and SeafoodLearning ObjectivesIdentify the quality characteristics for purchasing fresh fish and seafood.Identify the different forms available for purchasing fish and seafood.Discuss storage procedures associated with fish and seafood.Identify different types of fish by skeletal structure and activity level.Familiarize yourself with various fish cookery techniques.Explain which cuts of meat are suitable for different cooking methods.Fish and Seafood Seafood includes all edible forms of aquatic life, like fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and sea vegetation.Mollusks are invertebrate marine creatures with a soft, boneless body, including squid, cuttlefish, and octopus. Mussels, oysters, sea snails, and clams, members of the same group, are encased in a hard, calcified shell.Crustaceans are characterized by their segmented bodies and an exoskeleton.Edible sea vegetation includes sea beans, kelp, seaweed, lotus roots, and water lilies.Most nutritionists agree that the risks of seafood are outweighed by the benefits.Purchase and Storage Farm raising, technological advances in refrigeration and storage, and an improved infrastructure have created relatively easy access to fresh seafood.Fresh fish and seafood are available in a wide range of market forms.Upon receiving, fresh fish needs to be inspected for signs of freshness.Whole fish or live bi-valves need to be packed in shaved or flaked ice on perforated pans, and changing the ice daily is crucial to avoid accumulation of unwanted fluids.Mussels, clams, and oysters should be stored in their original mesh bag or open-packed in ice.Successful Fish and Seafood CookeryA common way to categorize fish is by skeletal structure, including round fish, flat fish, and non-boney fish.Fish can also be sorted by activity level, including high-activity fish and medium- and low-activity fishes.Fish and seafood, with their inherent tenderness, are preferably cooked quickly by grilling, sautéing, frying, or gentle poaching and steaming.Preserved fish and seafood, found in almost every cuisine, have their origins in seasonal abundances during spawning or migration.