Find a good Fishmonger

Some tips on how to find a good fish monger.

1 - The shop should be busy, ask the locals, go for older people who usually have a better knowledge!
2 - If you are buying fish for Sushi, ask for Sushi grade fish (most commonly Salmon and Tuna) and tell your fish monger that you only want the freshest!!!
3 - Get them to fillet the fish in front of you from the whole fish if possible.
4 - The fish should not be smelly and the fishmonger should know where it comes from.
5 - You should try to build a good relationship with your fishmonger and buy locally. Avoid supermarkets; if you really have to, use Morissons, the staff is usually well educated...but then again...be very cautious.

What about Frozen fish?

Sushi restaurants use both fresh and frozen fish. With today’s freezing technology, fish can be frozen quickly to retain freshness, flavor and color. As long as it is not kept frozen a long time and goes to the market quickly the fish will have a good fresh flavor.

However, stay away from packaged frozen fish, unless it is sold specifically as sushi grade.

There are a lot of sushi grade fish suppliers on the Internet that provide fresh fish and frozen fish. Supermarkets sometimes have sushi grade fish. Most of the time it will have been frozen and defrosted before sale. This fish is okay when it has just been defrosted, but don’t keep it for sushi more than 2 days.

Why do we freeze fish?

All fish, including seawater fish, may contain parasites.
Although the risk is small, people at greater risk, including older people, small children and pregnant women, should be careful when eating raw fish.

To kill the parasites, freeze the fish at -4 degrees F (-20 degrees C) for at least 24 hours. (This may be lower than your home freezer can get, so you will probably need to buy the fish prefrozen; ask your fishmonger.)

The fish can then be thawed and used as sushi - and, in fact, your local sushi bar should be using fish frozen this way, as well.