Fish Category

Asian markets are a good place to find these. Prod them gently before buying to make sure they're alive. The smaller ones are better. Canned or dried abalones are acceptable substitutes for fresh in some dishes. Unopened canned abalone can be stored for up to a year in a dry, cool place. Once opened, it will keep for up to two days if you wrap it well and refrigerate it.

If substituting an inferior caviar, consider perking it up with a splash of fresh lemon juice.

It's best to get these salted rather than canned. Rinse the salt off before using. Unopened canned anchovies can be stored for up to a year in a dry, cool place. Once opened, they will keep for up to two days if you wrap them well and refrigerate them.

A trout relative, the arctic char is highly prized for its sweetness and tenderness. It's often roasted or smoked.

Japanese fishermen tie knots around the necks of cormorants (black sea birds) and have them dive and catch these exquisite fish. They're very sweet and delicate.

The flesh is firm and white and milder than our catfish. This Vietnamese catfish relative has a mild flavor and firm texture.

Shopping hints: These are easier to find in the East than in the West. Frozen scallops are a good substitute for fresh.

In recent years, over-fishing in the Caspian Sea has greatly depleted sturgeon populations. Please consider using caviar and roe from more abundant species until the Caspian Sea sturgeon populations can recover. Beluga caviar is one of the best and priciest of the caviars. The eggs are large and bluish-grey, and slightly sweet. A pasteurized version is available in jars, but fresh caviar is much better. Malossol (lightly salted) beluga is the finest, and the most expensive. If substituting an inferior caviar, consider perking it up with a splash of fresh lemon juice. For substitutions for caviar in general, click here.

This category includes hogfish and cunner, which are very similar to blackfish.

These are found on the Atlantic coast. They're small, but otherwise similar to Dungeness crabs. When they molt, they're called soft-shelled crabs, a wonderful delicacy that can be eaten shell and all

This is the favorite for sushi. It is the most expensive.

This is a ten inch fish is native to coastal India. It is eaten fresh or salted and dried. It can have a very powerful smell.

Bonito are related to mackerel, and the Japanese dry them and use them in soups. They're often shaved into thin flakes called bonito flakes or hanakatsuo.

This includes kezuribushi = kezuri-bushi, a version with smaller flakes.

This Mediterranean specialty is made from the salted and sun-dried roe of either tuna (bottarga di tonno) or mullet (bottarga di muggine). You usually buy it as a sausage and shave off thin slices for hors d'oeuvres or grate it over pasta, fish, or salads. It's expensive but very tasty.

This has small, very dark olive-green eggs with medium firmness. It's an inexpensive, environmentally responsible alternative to the luxury caviars from the Caspian Sea. Consider perking up the flavor with a splash of fresh lemon juice.

The buffalo fish is a North American bottom feeding game fish. It is similar to a carp. They are long lived and can grow up to 80 lb. and 4'.

The name "butterfish" is sometimes also given to sablefish and to the delicious escolar, which you should read about before buying, since it's also called ex-lax fish.

These are popular in Japan, where they're often served as tempura.

Japanese cooks use these tiny, fluorescent eggs as a topping for sushi.

Over-fishing in the Caspian Sea has greatly depleted sturgeon populations. Please consider using roe from more abundant species until the Caspian Sea sturgeon populations can recover. Caviar is known for its subtle, buttery flavor, sensuous texture, and high price. It should always be served cold. Just as diamonds are rated according to the four Cs, caviar can be evaluated by the three Fs--flavor, firmness, and freshness. The flavor of caviar depends on the sturgeon's species and habitat, and is variously described as buttery, nutty, sweet, fruity, earthy, briny, and even herbaceous. The firmness of each egg determines how the eggs burst when you squeeze them against the roof of your mouth with your tongue. Fresh caviar is considered much better than the pasteurized version. Varieties: (from highest to lowest price) imperial caviar, beluga caviar, ossetra caviar, and sevruga caviar. Imperial caviar is the rarest and most expensive. Beluga caviar is soft, and almost melts in your mouth. Ossetra and sevruga caviars are relatively firm, and will pop when gently squeezed. Within these categories, malossol, or lightly salted caviar, is of higher quality than pressed caviar = payusnaya. If substituting an inferior caviar, consider perking it up with a splash of fresh lemon juice. Equivalents: 2 tablespoons = 1 ounce Fresh caviar lasts just over a year if properly stored, though its shelf-life can be extended with heavy salting. Experts claim that some of the fresh caviar that's being sold at bargain prices over the Internet is well past its prime. The color and size of the eggs--called the bead--can help you (and your guests) identify the different varieties of caviar.

See also pismo clam, soft-shell clam, razor clam, Manila clam, hard-shell clam, bar clam, and geoduck clam. Storage: Unopened canned clams can be stored for up to a year in a dry, cool place. Once opened, it will keep for up to two days if you wrap it well and refrigerate it.

This includes cod cheeks, which are good and inexpensive, cod tongues, cod sounds, which are the cod's air bladders, and scrod = schrod, which are young cod. See also salt cod.

cod cheeks, which are good and inexpensive

Scandinavian markets sell this in tubes, so that it can be extruded onto crackers and such for hors d'oeuvres. It's relatively inexpensive, but very salty.

This is popular in Florida and the Caribbean. In other regions, your best bet is to look in Asian or Italian markets.

Eat fresh crab the day you buy it. Unopened canned crab can be stored for up to a year in a dry, cool place. Once opened, it will keep for up to two days if you wrap it well and refrigerate it.

Crayfish are very popular in Louisiana, where restaurants serve them on large platters along with bowls of melted butter. Buy live ones if you can; if not, large supermarkets sometimes stock frozen whole crayfish or crayfish tails. Get the whole crayfish if possible--most of the flavor resides in the shells. Allow one to two pounds per person.

This is a close relative of squid and octopus. You can sometimes find dried cuttlefish in Asian markets.