How To Fix Fishy Fresh Fish!

by L.A. DiNardi

Say that three times fast without twisting up your tongue! Just because a fish has a fishy smell to it does not mean it is bad or old. Some fish, like bluefish and mackerel have a natural scent that can be a turn off for any seafood lover. The unwanted smell is caused by the breakdown of compound trimethylamine oxide by bacteria on the skin creating a smelly trimethylamine. It is completely normal and there is a couple of solutions.

First, if you are planning to bake the fish, place it on a bed of lettuce such as iceberg or leaf and cook it how you normally would. Something in the lettuce prevents the fishy smell from even beginning to permeate your home. Unfortunately, the lettuce trick only works if you are baking the fish.

However, for any method of cooking blues or mackerel, you can remove the smell by soaking the fish for about thirty minutes in milk. The casein, the main protein in milk, binds with the trimethylamine and washes away with the milk when you remove the fish. It is a simple and effective way to keep the fish from stinking up your home, no matter how you prepare it.

As always, buy your fish as fresh as possible. If you have a fish that is squishy or mushy to the touch, discard it immediately, the same goes for overly slimy scales or an overpowering ammonia smell. Try the milk or the lettuce and enjoy your fresh, delicious smelling fish!