Whether that fish you serve for dinner is a delight or a disaster depends
largely on the care it received between coming out of the water and
getting on your plate.
Bacteria and enzymes immediately go to work on a fish as soon as it
dies, breaking down its flesh and turning it to mush. The warmer the
day, the faster bacteria will multiply. Decomposition can't be stopped
entirely, but it can be slowed by keeping fish clean and cold. This
isn't always easy or practical, but the more of the following steps
you take, the better:
Quickly land your fish.
Lactic acid accumulates in the muscle tissue as a fish is played. If
the fish is preserved, this affects its taste and quality.
Immediately kill your fish
...with a sharp blow to the back of the head. Don't let it flop in a
fish hold or on a beach. Fish flesh bruises easily.
Bleed your fish
Fish keep longer and taste better if bled at once. Breaking or cutting
one gill arch is usually sufficient. On charter boats, filleting is
usually done ashore, but ask the mate to bleed your fish.
Rinse your fish
The best time to wash the slime from a fish is before it is gutted.
Use lots of water. A brush or knife-edge is helpful.
The slime on fish skin harbors bacteria, so don't let it contact fish
flesh.
Gut your fish
The sooner salmon are gutted and gilled, the better. Be sure to remove
the gills, all membranes and the kidney (the dark, gooey part beneath
the backbone).
Don't rinse fish flesh unless it's contaminated with blood or slime.
Water can leach out color and flavor and can change texture.
Put it on ice
Chill fish as soon and quickly as possible. Surround each fish with
ice and fill body cavities with ice. Open the ice chest drain, so fish
won't lie in water, slime or blood, which hastens bacterial growth.
Pack skinned fillets in plastic bags and surround them with ice.
Saving it for later
Vacuum packing and quick freezing is the best way of maintaining fresh-tasting
fish over several months.
Thaw frozen fish in a refrigerator, never at room temperature. The sooner
you eat or process your fish, the better it will taste. If you remember
cold, clean and quick, your fish will bring as much pleasure on a plate
as it did on a line.
(Information on how to properly preserve fish and
shellfish is available at the Alaska Cooperative Extension office on
Kalifornsky Beach Road in Soldotna.)
