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| Basic foodstuffs | Seafood

Herring

Fish are odorless, nutritious, and tasty.

Fish should never have the so-called "fishy" smell, which actually comes from bacterial decay. It is best to get live fish. The second best choice would be frozen-at-sea fish, often marked FAS. Refrigerated fish are generally a poor choice, especially for timid buyers who are hesitant to demand a chance to smell the fish prior to purchase. Avoid fish with any discolored area. Do not store unfrozen fish for long.

Canned fish are often good, but very different in taste, and selection is limited. Canned salmon and anchovies are particularly high in calcium, because the bones are softened by canning and are eaten with the flesh.

While it is generally unwise to eat any fish raw, wild freshwater fish are particularly likely to carry parasites that can infect humans.

Note: the names of fish vary around the world. Also, many different fish are often sold under the same name if they share roughly the same appearance.

Fresh Fish Table

Fish	Description	Notes
salmon	oily	Salmon go well with salt. Some don't like the taste of farm-raised salmon, but provides an alternative to wild and free natural salmon. Redness is caused by diet. Substitution is trout.
trout	oily	Substitution is salmon.
catfish	durable	Sembilang, or Black-tailed Catfish Catfish are good for fried fish. Catfish goes well with lemon juice. Best substitution is tilapia; flounder may work.
cod	flaky	Cod goes well with lemon. Cod is traditional for Fish and Chips, but may fall apart or fail to cook all the way through. Substitution is haddock.
swordfish	very firm and dry	Swordfish go well with salt, and possibly butter. Swordfish are high in mercury. Shark, halibut, and fresh tuna are substitutes.
hake	delicate flavor and moist flaky texture
halibut	very firm
haddock	delicate flavor, soft, flaky	Haddock goes well with lemon juice. Substitution is cod.
flounder	delicate flavor	Flounder goes well with lemon juice. Substitutions are haddock and catfish.
tuna	firm, oily	Substitutions are shark, salmon, and halibut.
tilapia	durable	Tilapia are good for fried fish. Tilapia go well with lemon juice. Best substitution is catfish; flounder may work.
mahi-mahi (dolphinfish)	firm	Substitutions are halibut, shark, swordfish, fresh tuna...
skate	?
mackerel	strong flavor, oily	Substitute herring.
herring	strong flavor, oily	Substitute mackerel.