Shopping for seafood
The New Zealand seafood industry leads the World in harvesting seafood in an environmentally sustainable way.
There’s a huge range of New Zealand seafood to choose from at fishmongers and supermarkets. For example take a look at the extensive range of seafood and more on offer at the Auckland Fish Market.
Here’s what to look for when you’re shopping for seafood, and how to choose the best seafood to suit your recipe or cooking method.
Seafood shopping tips
Click for video about Auckland Fish Market »
Don’t go seafood shopping with a fixed idea of what you’re going to buy. Choose what looks best as well as what will suit the recipe you have in mind — or switch to a new recipe idea if there’s something that looks really good on the counter!
A fresh fish smells of the sea and not of fish. It’s firm to the touch (a whole fish that’s completely rigid is the freshest of all), and has a bright, ‘just out of the water’ look.
Fish spoils if you leave it warming in your car while you finish your shopping. To avoid this, take a small chilly bin or bag with you when you go shopping, and put the fish into it as soon as you can.
No-one should mind paying a fair price for a good, fresh fish. There's such a variety, you should always be able to find good quality fish that will fit your budget.
Seasonal availability
Innovation in storage of seafood means that we can now enjoy just about any New Zealand seafood at any time of the year. Frozen, chilled or processed seafood can provide as tasty a meal as fish fresh from the sea.
However, when it's in season the larger quantities of fresh seafood available locally can reduce the price. To find out when your favourite fresh New Zealand seafood will be in the shops, download the Seasonal Availability chart:
Shop for the best whole fresh fish
Treat headless fish with caution - it's more difficult to detect staleness without eyes and gills. Choose whole, fresh fish and ask your fishmonger to remove the head for you.
To buy the best whole fresh fish look for:
- eyes - black pupil, translucent cornea
- skin - bright with a luminous sheen
- gills - bright 'pastel rose' colour
- flesh - elastic texture, semi-transparent and firm for white fish, glossy or shiny for darker fish.
Shop for the best fresh fish fillets and steaks
Buy fish fillets or steaks that have bright/glossy, semi-transparent-looking flesh. If you like, ask the fishmonger to let you look closely at the fish before you buy it. Don't buy fillets or steaks if the flesh looks plasticine-like and sticky, very soft, or mushy. The fish is stale.
Ask your fishmonger to help you find fillets or steaks of similar size and thickness. This makes it easier to get the cooking time just right.
Shop for the best frozen fish and shellfish
Frozen seafood keeps all the original fresh fish 'good health' benefits. Keep fish in your freezer so that you can always make a quick and easy, nutritious meal.
Fish that is commercially frozen at sea is arguably the freshest fish of all. That’s because it’s flash-frozen within three hours of being caught. Look for flash-frozen fish and shellfish where:
- the wrapping and seals on the pack are not damaged
- the product is solidly frozen but without a lot of ice in the package
- shellfish are whole, not damaged or broken
- there is no 'fishy' smell
- there are no signs of freezer burn, like lighter or dehydrated patches on the fish flesh.
Frozen fish that has signs of freezer burn is not dangerous or unsafe to eat, but it will not be best quality or have a fresh flavour when you cook it.
Shop for the best live shellfish
Only buy live shellfish with closed shells or that close quickly when tapped. Don’t choose ones that are cracked or broken.
Live Greenshell mussels usually gape a little when they’re on display under spray. That’s okay. Just tap the mussels and only buy the ones that close tightly.
Shop for the best crabs and rock lobsters (crayfish)
You can buy crabs and rock lobsters (crayfish) live or freshly cooked. If you're shopping for live crabs or rock lobsters choose energetic ones that flap vigorously when you pick them up. If you're shopping for cooked crustacea:
- Rock lobsters' tails should be tucked firmly up against the underside of their bodies. When you straighten out the tail, it should snap back into place.
- Crabs' legs and claws should 'spring back' when you straighten them.
How to choose seafood to suit a recipe or cooking method
Research from the University of Auckland in 2005 shows that for just 25 cents a week you can buy enough mackerel to get your recommended weekly dose of Omega-3s.
Different types of fish suit different cooking methods and recipes. This depends mostly on the texture of the fish, together with its oilyness, and strength of flavour.
Choosing seafood to suit a recipe
Most recipes recommend either a fish type (delicate, medium, firm, oily) or a particular fish species in the list of ingredients. Use the table on Choosing New Zealand Seafood to find the right fish for your recipe and to see which fish you can substitute successfully for others.
Choosing seafood to suit a cooking method
If you've got a specific cooking method in mind, you may want to know which seafood will work well for you. First find your cooking method on the table on Choosing New Zealand Seafood, then match the method with the fish it suits.
We have made a bookmark that makes choosing the right fish easier. Ask for it at your local fish monger or supermarket. If they don’t have it you can download it here, print it out, fold it and glue it together and use it next time you go shopping.
Download bookmark 658kB