CNY is just around the corner and some of you housewives and househusband will be storing a lot of seafood for the festive season. Wet market will most likely be closed during this period because the Selayang Wholesale market (where most of the Klang Valley fresh produces are sourced from) will be closed for one week during CNY.
Well, since I am in the mood today, I will share some tips in keeping some of your seafood fresh for a few days!
Cockles (Kerang) / Lalah / Live Oyster – our friends here are actually still alive when you buy them from the market, so please treat them with respect and do not just put them into the fridge as the temperature will kill them and thus emitting an unpleasant smell. If you have bought too much stock and unable to finish them :
- Get a small pail and fill it up with water
- Mix in few spoons full of salt and put them in.
They will be able to stay fresh and juicy for few days without you freezing them to death! Btw, I would not recommend putting them into the freezer because this will spoil the cooking quality.
Cut fish (Barred Mackerel-tenggiri batang/Threadfin-kurau/Grouper-Jenahak) – these are some of the more well known fishes that consumers like to buy in slices. Sometimes, they can’t finish at one meal so the uncooked balance will go into the freezer. It is again not the best method to store the fish meat, as during the process of being frozen the membrane of the protein cells will break and that will make the fish meat dry and hard the next time you take them out from the fridge to cook again.
- Best way is to take a clean plastic bag and put the fish meat inside
- Seal it up and put it in a container with water and ice (mix half container of ice with half container of water, make sure you mix the ice water first before putting the plastic bag in or else the normal water temperature will cook part of the meat)
- Put the container at the top shelf of your fridge (not freezer!). This will help to keep the meat fresh for 1 or 2 days without spoiling the quality.
Prawns, if you don’t intend to cook your prawns, make sure you dun soak them or put them under running pipe water. Our Bolehland pipe water temperature on a hot day is indeed “boleh” in cooking part of your prawn before you even put them into the frying pan.
If you plan to keep some fresh prawns, do the following:
- Leave the shell and head on. Don’t clean them yet.
- Take a container and fill it up with cold water (ice water is even better).
- Mix in few spoons of sugar (yeah, that’s the secret)
- Put the prawns in and make sure the water level is high enuf to cover the prawns.
- Put it in your freezer! This can last for months.
Why the sugar you might want to ask, the sugar will keep the prawn meat firm and juicy and apparently they’ll taste slightly sweeter too.. haha… for obvious reason.
Rules of thumb in handling fresh seafood :
- Make sure your hand is clean
- Do not leave any seafood expose to the room temperature for too long. Bacteria will grow very fast and thus causing it to spoil faster. Always prepare and store your seafood immediately after you bought them.
- Do not put / soak / cuci / clean / wash – wat-te-verrr… the seafood using pipe water, if you do not intend to cook them.
Well.. that’s all for today. Tune in later for more seafood insights!
Well, since I am in the mood today, I will share some tips in keeping some of your seafood fresh for a few days!
Cockles (Kerang) / Lalah / Live Oyster – our friends here are actually still alive when you buy them from the market, so please treat them with respect and do not just put them into the fridge as the temperature will kill them and thus emitting an unpleasant smell. If you have bought too much stock and unable to finish them :
- Get a small pail and fill it up with water
- Mix in few spoons full of salt and put them in.
They will be able to stay fresh and juicy for few days without you freezing them to death! Btw, I would not recommend putting them into the freezer because this will spoil the cooking quality.
Cut fish (Barred Mackerel-tenggiri batang/Threadfin-kurau/Grouper-Jenahak) – these are some of the more well known fishes that consumers like to buy in slices. Sometimes, they can’t finish at one meal so the uncooked balance will go into the freezer. It is again not the best method to store the fish meat, as during the process of being frozen the membrane of the protein cells will break and that will make the fish meat dry and hard the next time you take them out from the fridge to cook again.
- Best way is to take a clean plastic bag and put the fish meat inside
- Seal it up and put it in a container with water and ice (mix half container of ice with half container of water, make sure you mix the ice water first before putting the plastic bag in or else the normal water temperature will cook part of the meat)
- Put the container at the top shelf of your fridge (not freezer!). This will help to keep the meat fresh for 1 or 2 days without spoiling the quality.
Prawns, if you don’t intend to cook your prawns, make sure you dun soak them or put them under running pipe water. Our Bolehland pipe water temperature on a hot day is indeed “boleh” in cooking part of your prawn before you even put them into the frying pan.
If you plan to keep some fresh prawns, do the following:
- Leave the shell and head on. Don’t clean them yet.
- Take a container and fill it up with cold water (ice water is even better).
- Mix in few spoons of sugar (yeah, that’s the secret)
- Put the prawns in and make sure the water level is high enuf to cover the prawns.
- Put it in your freezer! This can last for months.
Why the sugar you might want to ask, the sugar will keep the prawn meat firm and juicy and apparently they’ll taste slightly sweeter too.. haha… for obvious reason.
Rules of thumb in handling fresh seafood :
- Make sure your hand is clean
- Do not leave any seafood expose to the room temperature for too long. Bacteria will grow very fast and thus causing it to spoil faster. Always prepare and store your seafood immediately after you bought them.
- Do not put / soak / cuci / clean / wash – wat-te-verrr… the seafood using pipe water, if you do not intend to cook them.
Well.. that’s all for today. Tune in later for more seafood insights!
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