Sometimes I Eat 5-Day-Old Fish
Another topic that I have wanted to address for sometime and that is - seafood shelf life. This past weekend in particular, I received quite a few questions about whether folks can keep their seafood in the fridge to eat the next day. In a word, ABSOLUTELY.
To be sure, I am an absolute psycho when it comes to fish quality. I have pushed some suppliers to the point where they have threatened to stop selling to us (I'm not gloating, this is not ideal). I have absorbed the cost of fish that is not bad enough to return, but does not meet my standards to offer to you (very much not ideal). Every piece of fish goes out of the building wrapped in expensive paper that helps maintain quality. We go through a lot of effort to store fillets so that they can properly drain excess moisture. I get all the information I can about a fish (how it was caught, where it was caught) in an effort to be reasonably sure that it will be a high quality item. In part because of this fanaticism, you don't have to eat your fish the day you buy it.
Certainly, fish is a highly perishable product (particularly the fillets) and the sooner the better. Many of you have heard me lament about poor fish handling practices and how this can have an adverse effect on fish quality. For this reason, particularly in the summer, I'm apprehensive to encourage considerable time before consumption. Sometimes fish that looks really good when we receive it can deteriorate more quickly than it should, but most of the time it is ok. For fish fillets, I will say that you should be able to cook the fish 3 days after your purchase and have a very good experience. Realistically, you can usually wait up to 5 days.
Shellfish (Clams, Oysters and Mussels) is something people have particular trepidation about when it comes to home storage. The reality is that shellfish are some of the heartiest seafood items you can purchase. Oysters will live out of water for a long time. Some oyster growers actually remove their oysters from the water for the entire winter so that the oysters don't freeze and keep them in a cooler (or warmer) around 40F for the winter. All that is to say that oysters can last in your refrigerator at home (in the shellfish bag we put it in) for at least two weeks. On several occasions I've had oysters in my home refrigerator for over a month and had a fine experience. Further, when an oyster dies, you will know. The smell is beyond rancid or there is simply nothing in there.
The same applies to clams. They can hang out in their shell for a month at least. Like oysters, they live off of their fat reserves and tend to do just fine. Mussels are hearty as well. Yes, they will gape. As long as they make an effort to close when you squeeze them and there is no widespread terrible smell (which, in my experience is rare), they are good to go. I've had success with mussels after being in my home fridge for two weeks.
As a fishmonger, you may think that I have the absolute freshest seafood at my home all the time. Sometimes, yes. Most of the time I take home what doesn't sell and then I leave it in the fridge for another 4, 5, 6 days and it is just fine. The worst case has been that there is a little bit of a smell - a smell that I would not want you to experience in the days immediately following your purchase, but if you waited until 5 days after purchase and it had that off smell, more often than not, it tastes just fine after cooking. Also, has anyone ever bought a pack of vacuum sealed fresh chicken and opened that after a few days? Honestly most of the time the smell is pretty bad, but it cooks up ok. I'd argue that fish deserves similar leniency.
So moral of the story, you can stock up for the week or the weekend (or holiday weekend) and do what Fearless Fish exists to help you do, which is to cook that fish with confidence.
