Until recently, I've been buying my seafood from the frozen section because it's typically cheaperl. And besides; most of the non-frozen seafood in the seafood dept of the grocer is the same as what's in the freezer, they just thawed it and put it out on display.
Well here's what I found. If I buy, say frozen salmon filets, when I thaw them out and open the bag they were frozen in, I'm amazed how much water pours out of the bag. That's water that I payed $6/per pound for
So, I'm buying non-frozen seafood from now on.
Also, something else I noticed. If I'm at a quality fish-monger... and I buy fish, shrimp, etc that is fresh and never frozen, when I cook it... it pretty much stays the same size as pre-cooked.
However, every time I cook that frozen shit... it always shrivels up by at least a third. I'm convinced that the packaging companies not only add water during the freezing process, but they have some magical way to impregnate the seafood with more water. Sure, the prepackaged, frozen shit is cheaper... but when it shrivels up 3 times as much as the fresh... is it really saving me money?
Need proof? Buy a package of pre-cooked, peeled shrimp with the tails on. Also buy a package of un-cooked, un-peeled shrimp. Now cook the raw shrimp and and taste test them, with the pre-cooked.
The pre-cooked shrimp are spongy in texture... and if you squeeze one, you'll be amazed how much water squishes out of it. WTF? The fresh shrimp doesn't do this.
Just another example of how we, as the consumer, get screwed!