Is my tilapia bad?

[syakoban]

My wife bought some tilapia fillets about a month ago and we froze it immediately without opening the package. We defrosted it yesterday and it had zero smell but there was an orange/yellow tinge to it. Is the fish bad or contaminated or what? We only remember tilapia as being white/off white...

Thanks!

[VegasDramaQueen]

Freezing can do this to fish. I highly recommend the FoodSaver for freezing anything. If the tilapia smelled fresh then there is no problem. Bad fish smells, fresh fish has no odor except for the odor of sea water. Enjoy. BTW NEVER freeze anything in the package it was purchased in. Transfer it to a zip loc bag or another wrapping method.

[Uncle Bob]

I prefer to not freeze fish like tilapia. Chances are great it came in to your local retailer frozen, thawed and packed. So when you go home and freeze it you are infact re-freezing it. This could account for it being off color.

[Katie E]

Tilapia isn't always perfectly white. It can look like yours does or it can even be slightly pink.

If you plan to freeze your fish from the market, ask the person at the fish counter to get a package for from their freezer supply behind the counter. As Uncle Bob said, much of the fish in grocery stores these days has been previously frozen.

Unless I'm going to eat my fish right away or in a day or two, I always ask for some that is already frozen. This advice came from my fishmonger.

[Michael in FtW]

Just talked to my fish guy ... he said that based on what you said there should not be a problem. Things displayed in a meat counter will have a different color when taken out of the display case because they use colored lights in the display cases. Other things that cause a difference in color include wild vs. farmed and where it came from geographically - these affect diet which will alter the color.

[syakoban]

Thanks everyone! We will eat it tonight.

In the future we will try and by frozen fish (as suggested) to avoid the freeze/thaw cycling.

[Katie E]

Let me add, too, that when you thaw fish, ALWAYS thaw it in the refrigerator. Fish is too suceptible to spoiling.

[Constance]

I have sometimes started fish thawing on the counter, Katie, but my husband says I keep the house like a refrigerator.

I'm just extremely warm natured, I guess. Or else it's a constant hot flash.