How to buy and store fish..........

I try to take a trip downtown to the fish markets at least once a month. If you haven't been I would highly recommend it. Not only do you get the freshest fish available but you also cut out the middle man which is a tremendous savings to you.

I would suggest going to:

La Fish Company

420 Stanford Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90013

213-629-1213

Hours Mon-Fri from 6:00 am - 11:00 am & 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Sat from 6:00 am - 10:00 pm

Key to buying fish

• it should never smell like fish it should smell of clean water
• look for bright, clear eyes (when the fish is whole)
• fish should be shiny, metallic and clean
• fish should be resilient so when you press it with your finger the print should disappear
• if there is liquid on the fish it should be clear not milky

A friend of mine just asked me the best way to freeze shrimp so here a few important things to know. I just bought a 4 lb box of jumbo black tiger shrimp and here is what I did.

• remove shells, tails and devein
• rinse in cold water and dry
• divide shrimp into portions sizes you expect to use them in (I bought 100 shrimp and divided it into five portions)
• fill a large ziplock freezer bag 1/3 full with cold water add shrimp to the bag carefully remove as much air a possible
• essentially you are freezing shrimp into smalls blocks of ice

One of the biggest mistakes people make is to buy shrimp from the grocery store and then throw it directly into the freezer....this is why it may smell fishy when defrosted.

When you take the trip downtown also stop at the flower mart and then have some dim sum in china town!!!

enjoy

Jamielyn xoxo