Tips Choosing Fresh Fish

At first, I was bad in choosing good-fresh fish with the bad one. They are look the same to me, as fish :). But then, one day I went to the market with my mother-in-law, we were going to buy fish. (Just for information, at that time I was pregnant, people said it is good for pregnant woman to eat fish, because fish contain Omega 3 and Omega 6, which are good for baby’s brain.)

At the market, I saw one small tuna. I like tuna. So I picked it up, and said to my in-law, “Ma, aku mau ini, sepertinya enak.” (“Ma, I want this fish, it looks yummy.”). Then my mother in law said, “Iihh, ini sudah tidak bagus. Yang ini saja, lebih segar.” (“No, not that one. It’s no longer good. This one is better & fresh.” She picked another fish, looked like tuna, but we called it kembung fish (sort of mackerel). (Well, I like kembung fish as well, so no problem for me if she changed the fish :) ). Then I asked her, how to figure out the good & fresh condition of a fish?

Then she told me this tips on how to choose fresh fish:
1.    Just see the gills. If the gills brightly red, it means that the fish is good. (While the tuna I’d chosen, the gills already a bit dark-pale-red and slimy too.)
2.    The eyes should be plumed and clear.
3.    The flesh should be springy and densely.
4.    The scales are bright and tight.
5.    The skin is not slimy.
6.    The smells not too fishy

Well at least those are the basic ways to choose fresh fish. I am still using those tips, when I bought fish for my family and my baby son. If it is too difficult to remember or to check all of those tips, usually I only checked the gills, eyes, and the body.

Well for all of you, enjoying in choosing nice fresh fish. Especially for mommy will-be :).