How to get rid of fishy smell on defrosted fish/shrimp?

evll_z

evll_z

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When fish/shrimp is defrosted (in the fridge), it has a quite strong fish smell, which fresh products don't usually have. Is there a way to get rid of it? I tried marinading defrosted products in milk or lemon juice for some time, but it does not really help.
 
evll_z said:
> If it smells fishy, it's not fresh.

That smell is there 90% of time. It's not the smell of something gone bad, just fish.
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Some folks are really sensitive to the smell of fish. Not disagreeing with Windigo but fish does have a slight fishy smell when raw (its fish!) and certainly when you enter a seafood restaurant you can smell the wonderful aroma of cooked fish/seafood. Its inimitable.
 
I'd rinse it really well a few times..stir them around in the rinse water to help wash the surface of the shrimp..Sometimes I add a bit of lemon juice to the ice cold rinse water and let them sit in that in the fridge for about an hour before I want to cook..then I drain and rinse well again..it usually takes that smell away...if not, then your shrimp are bad...
 
Defrosted shrimp does have a bit of a fishy smell. So does fresh shrimp. When I take the shells off, the shrimp meat has very little smell, but the shells smell fishy. That's probably why shrimp shells are great for making seafood stock. Fish filets should not have much, if any smell. But, you may have very a sensitive sense of smell.

Like Rock said, give them a good rinse if the smell bothers you.

CD
 
Good discussion.
evll_z - I have no idea of the quality of seafood you have at your disposal. I live near the U.S. gulf coast and flash frozen seafood is often fresher than seafood bought off a boat. When you buy frozen make sure it is labeled FLASH FROZEN. Check the country of origin. Not all countries have proper food inspection. Frozen shrimp can be washed and wiped dried. Fish, scallops, crab, crawfish, bivalves do not take well to washing,
All saltwater seafood will have briney smell. I should not be overwhelming. It should smell like the sea. Lovely.
Living in a region with a wealth of fresh seafood I have learned how to spot what is really fresh and what is being sold as fresh (never frozen) but actually not as fresh as some flash frozen products.
If the seafood is handled properly it should have a mild fishy, briny smell. Nothing strong or offensive.
The problem may be your source.
Good luck.
 
ElizabethB said:
Good discussion.
evll_z - I have no idea of the quality of seafood you have at your disposal. I live near the U.S. gulf coast and flash frozen seafood is often fresher than seafood bought off a boat. When you buy frozen make sure it is labeled FLASH FROZEN. Check the country of origin. Not all countries have proper food inspection. Frozen shrimp can be washed and wiped dried. Fish, scallops, crab, crawfish, bivalves do not take well to washing,
All saltwater seafood will have briney smell. I should not be overwhelming. It should smell like the sea. Lovely.
Living in a region with a wealth of fresh seafood I have learned how to spot what is really fresh and what is being sold as fresh (never frozen) but actually not as fresh as some flash frozen products.
If the seafood is handled properly it should have a mild fishy, briny smell. Nothing strong or offensive.
The problem may be your source.
Good luck.
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Thanks for chiming in. ElizabethB lives about 30 miles from where the shrimp boats are. She knows her shrimp. I am from an area just like that, just a bit West of her.

Shrimp will smell like the sea, as she said, when it is fresh from the sea. If you can smell it from across the room, your may just have a problem. But if you hold it close to your face, and it smells a bit briny, that's normal.

Some people are very sensitive to that smell.

CD
 
If you can smell it from across the room, your may just have a problem
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It's nothing that drastic. But in my experience unfrozen seafood consistently has a stronger smell than fresh seafood. Can you confirm that? So it's either a real thing or all frozen seafood quality in my country is bad.
 
evll_z said:
It's nothing that drastic. But in my experience unfrozen seafood consistently has a stronger smell than fresh seafood. Can you confirm that? So it's either a real thing or all frozen seafood quality in my country is bad.
Click to expand...

I have honestly not noticed a difference. It may have something to do with how long after the catch that the seafood is frozen. Here, it is frozen as soon as possible, sometimes frozen on the boat at sea.

CD
 
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