Why does my chicken taste like fish? I have spent a lot of time finding the answer to this question. Now, I have the most convincing reasons to explain this problem, and I’ll list them in the following sections in this post.
This is a widespread problem that many people encounter. Therefore, I’m here with some great solutions to remove this taste from your meat besides giving the causes. I hope your chicken tastes better, thanks to these tips.
The Common Reasons Causing Fishy Flavor To Chicken
If you find a fishy taste in your chicken, don’t be surprised since it is a common issue. Many reasons cause this flavor, and here are some common ones. Keep scrolling to check them out!
Refreeze Your Chicken
The first reason for the fishy taste is the habit of refreezing your kitchen. People often thaw frozen chicken at room temperature and refreeze the remaining chicken for later use. This habit can have a huge effect on the taste of the meat.
Besides the appearance of a fishy taste and odor, defrosting and refreezing chicken reduces the nutritional value of the meat. In addition, it causes health risks because of the development of viruses and bacteria.
In case you want to prevent this adverse problem, you should put your food in small batches before refreezing the food.
Incorrect Storing Methods
Improper storage is another reason for causing the weird flavor of the chicken. If you store chicken with other foods in the fridge, such as fish, squid, or beef, the chicken may embody their taste and smell since it absorbs the odor and flavor easily.
To avoid this unwanted situation, you should store food in different compartments. In addition, it’s necessary to ensure the chicken is tightly and carefully wrapped to prevent the meat from contaminating the smell in the fridge.
Follow these instructions to preserve your chicken better and prolong its shelf life:
Spoiled Chicken
Spoiled chicken may have weird tastes and odors, and the fishy flavor is one of them. Of course, you should not eat bad chicken since it may contain poisons that lead to different levels of food intoxication.
Normally, you’ll find a fishy taste on the expired chicken, so make sure to check the expiry date carefully before buying. Plus, your chicken may be spoiled if you keep it improperly. Specifically, you shouldn’t eat chicken that is left at room temperature for longer than 2 hours.
Cooking Method
Do you often use dirty utensils, reuse oil, or an unwashed pan for cooking chicken? This habit gives the meat unwanted flavors and scents with a fishy taste is one of them.
In addition, frying chicken at low temperatures can trigger chemical reactions in the fat tissue of the chicken meat. With this cooking method, chemicals created by the protein and the lipid oxidation process of unsaturated fats produce a fishy taste in the chicken (1)
Therefore, cleaning your utensils, pan, skillet, and other cooking tools is something you should do before cooking chicken. Using new oil and frying chicken at medium heat also brings fantastic flavor to the meat.
Farming Techniques
Many farmers use fish as a daily food for their chickens because of the high protein content. However, this can create a strong fishy flavor to the meat, and many customers don’t like enjoying chicken with this taste.
If you store chicken properly, but it still tastes like fish, fishmeal may be the main cause. Therefore, you may switch to other brands that don’t use fishmeal to see if the chicken tastes altered or not.
Improper Preparation
Another common reason is preparing chicken with a dirty chopping board and a knife blade. The fish taste is more intense if you have used these tools to prepare raw fish.
Therefore, cleaning the knife and chopping board before preparing chicken is essential to avoid infusing an unwanted fishy taste into the chicken.
Fishy Odor In The Freezer
Your chicken can taste like fish because of the unpleasant odor in the freezer or refrigerator. The odor can come from fish, seafood products, or spoiled food. The chicken will absorb the weird smell easily if you don’t seal it carefully and tightly.
To solve this problem, you must clean your freezer and refrigerator regularly to keep them from unpleasant smells.
Is It Safe To Consume Chicken With Fishy Flavor?
It can be safe or unsafe to eat chicken that tastes like fish, depending on the cause. Obviously, it is dangerous to consume spoiled or undercooked chicken because it can cause food poisoning and other health problems (2)
Meanwhile, there is no problem enjoying chicken that tastes like fish from improper cooking methods, preparation, or farming techniques. Nevertheless, the meat’s flavor doesn’t taste as delicious as you desire.
Sometimes, chicken stored in vacuum packaging can taste and smell like egg or fish because of the use of certain gasses by producers. However, these vacuumed chicken packages are perfectly safe to consume.
How To Tell If Your Chicken Has Gone Bad?
In some cases, you may confuse the flavor of spoiled chicken and chicken that tastes like fish. Here are some signs of chicken spoilage you need to know.
The weird smell is one of the early signs of spoiled chicken you can easily identify. If you find a crude, alkali, or sulfur-like smell from your chicken, you should implement the meat into your meal.
Typically, good-quality and fresh chicken will have a signature pinkish color. Therefore, if the pink hue of the chicken becomes dark, you should consider throwing the meat away.
Touching the chicken is another way to determine whether it is still fresh. Typically, fresh chicken has a glossy and tender texture. Meanwhile, slimy, sticky, and tacky texture are the signs of bad chicken.
The assault of bacteria is one of the main causes of spoiled chicken. In this case, mold can appear on the surface of the chicken and may lead to severe food poisoning if consumed.
When you see these signs on the chicken, it’s time to get rid of the meat, as it is spoiled.
Effective Tips To Remove Fishy Taste From Chicken
Luckily, you can prevent or remove the fishy flavor from chicken with some effective methods below. Let’s follow them to bring the best flavor to your chicken.
Use Vinegar
Applying the chicken with a mix of vinegar and water is the first way to remove the fishy flavor. Here are some steps you should follow to get the best result.
Step 1: Prepare a mixture of vinegar and water.
Step 2: Marinate your chicken with this mixture.
Step 3: Let the meat sit for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Step 4: Remove the chicken from the mixture.
Step 5: Use water to wash your chicken and remove the vinegar.
Mixture Of Flour And Salt
Using flour and salt is another great tip to deter this bad flavor from your meat. Besides these ingredients, you need the support of lemon juice and vinegar to help the meat free of the fishy taste.
Step 1: Wash your chicken with water and let it dry completely.
Step 2: Mix 1 tablespoon of salt with 2 tablespoons of flour.
Step 3: Add the mixture to your chicken.
Step 4: Let the meat sit for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Step 5: Prepare a concoction of ½ cup of lemon juice, ¼ cup of vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of salt.
Step 6: Pour this mixture onto your meat and wait for about 15 minutes.
Step 7: Wash the meat with plain water again.
Use New Cooking Oil
As I mentioned, reusing cooking oil is one of the reasons causing a fishy taste to your chicken, so changing the cooking oil each time is the best tip to keep your meat from the fishy taste. Also, it’s better to wash your pan after each use.
Clean Your Fridge And Freezer
A clean and odor-free refrigerator or freezer will help preserve food longer. Therefore, cleaning the freezer and refrigerator helps eliminate bad odors from sticking to your food. For the best cleaning effect, you should use baking soda and a hot water mixture.
Let’s find out how to clean your freezer effectively.
Use Milk
Another simple and effective method you can apply to keep the fishy flavor from your chicken is to soak the meat in milk. This amazing tip not only eliminates weird flavor but also helps your chicken become more tender.
Cook Chicken With Tomato
Aside from these methods, you can remove the fishy taste by cooking the meat with seasonings and acidic ingredients, like tomato sauce. Plus, the result will be better if you add some aromatic herbs, like thyme and basil, to the sauce.
Wonderful Recipes Made From Chicken You Should Try
Chicken is a versatile and delicious ingredient. With chicken on hand, you can make various yummy dishes to serve your loved ones. Here are some examples you should refer to.
Garlic Butter Chicken
When consuming garlic butter chicken, diners can fall in love with the amazing softness and juiciness of the chicken. The taste of this delicacy is enhanced with the appearance of rich and tasty garlic butter sauce.
Crispy Chilli Chicken
This crispy chili chicken is a great recipe for Chinese cuisine. People often use chicken breasts for this delicacy. Besides the perfect crispiness, the sweet, rich, and warm taste of honey, lemon juice, ginger, and other seasonings will give you a great mouthfeel.
Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup
A bowl of warm and rich creamy chicken enchilada soup is a wonderful option for cold days. Cooked chicken has amazing tenderness that mixes well with the buttery and rich flavor of black beans, veggies, and chicken broth.
Follow these steps to make creamy chicken enchilada soup properly:
FAQs
I didn’t mention other essential information in the above sections, and I will reveal them in this part via the commonly asked questions and their answers.
Store Your Chicken Carefully To Avoid A Fishy Taste!
Is your chicken still okay? Let’s apply the effective tips I recommended above to protect your chicken from weird tastes and smells. Don’t panic when you find your chicken tastes like fish since it’s safe to eat if you prepare and cook it properly.
Are there any other reasons causing fishy flavor? I look forward to receiving other helpful ideas from you through comments. Furthermore, let’s share this article with people around you. Thanks for reading!
Paragraph
1. “Lipid oxidation induced by heating in chicken meat and the relationship with oxidants and antioxidant enzymes activities.”
2. “Chicken and Food Poisoning – Chicken and Food Poisoning.”
