Tilapia

[twylyn]

Does anyone have any good recipes for tilapia? I just had this fish for the first time a few wks ago at a restaurant & loved it--had never heard of it before that.

...and any good ideas for sides to accompany it?

thanks

[W.DeBord]

My local grocery store seems to carry that fish pretty regularly now. I enjoy it also, since it's so mild. I just saute it in butter, nothing fancy for a quick dinner. Although my husband has cooked it a couple times on the grill with nice results. He places it on foil and tops it with thin slices of onion and tomato, with a splash of lemon juice and butter chuncks ontop. (Although I don't eat the onions with the fish) it imparts a nice flavor to the fish. I like it with a simple tartar sauce or a beur blanc sauce.

As far as side dishes, well there isn't anything I don't like so there's tons of answers. I like a some sauteed zuccini, peppers and onions with my husband version....


Oh, this fish does break-up easily when you cook it so don't over handle it.

[cape chef]

For those looking for a nice alternative to high priced fin fish ,Tilapia won't disapoint. I serve it in my employee cafe alot.The staff loves it.
A little background on tilapia.
It's in the cichlidae family,it's a fresh water fish native of africa.

A great thing about Tilapia is it's adaptability,It can be raised in salt water.It's raised in tropical and temperate climates around the world,So you don't need to feel we are depleating the world supply.They grow fast and spawn often.

the flavor should be sweet and mild,ant grayish in the flesh means it's over the hill.Pink to off white is what you should be looking for in the flesh.Cook Tilapia on high heat,it has very little fat or oils so it needs a fast technique.

I find sauteeing or broiling works best,poaching and grilling I find less succesful
cc

[HubUK]

I think this may be one of the types of fish that would cook really well baked in sea salt.

I will never forget my first experience of Red Tilapia. A friend had told me I must get some and barbecue it as the taste was out of this world.

Well, it didn't smell that wonderful while I was cooking it. In fact it made me think someone had just vomited.

However, trusting my friends advice (he wasn't there by the way) I served up the fish - it tasted like someone had vomited! It was off but never having come across it before and having got it ftom a reputable source it never occurred to me that it would be off!

It was a long time before I tried it again!

[Risa]

One of my parents' favourite fish is tilapia. They're very happy that it's very easy to find and inexpensive now. I used to avoid eating it because it always tasted a bit like dirt to me. This was before tilapia farming became really big in the US and the tilapia was imported from somewhere in Asia. The dirt taste isn't really strong for some people but I really noticed it. My dad said it had something to do with the feed and the way the fish have been raised. On a recent visit home, my mom served tilapia and it was already in fillets so I didn't know what kind of fish. It was delicious: very sweet and mild. I have since had it steamed the Chinese way with rice wine, soy sauce, scallions and ginger. It's a great substitute for the ling cod and rock cod that I'm used to. I'm a newly converted tilapia eater. BTW, it's one of those fish that's good to eat because it's not endangered and the farming methods for tilapia aren't overly destructive to the environment.

[twylyn]

Thanks for all the ideas

When I had it in the restaurant it was grilled w/a ginger-citrus teriyaki sauce & served w/pineapple mango salsa

I really like mild fish, so this was a pleasant surprise...I think it will compete now w/my other two favorites, mahi-mahi and halibut!

[kuan]

Tilapia USED to be the fish which ate what the catfish left behind. Nowadays it's actually quite good when raised on the farm. As for recipes, I suppose there's no real limit to what you could do with it. Saute, bake, poach, fry, steam... and with either of these methods an almost endless list of sauces and garnishes. I don't think there's a standard "classical" preparation of tilapia but you could always try your hand at tilapia a la manure if you want

Kuan

[twylyn]

Originally posted by kuan
but you could always try your hand at tilapia a la manure if you want
Kuan

I definitely think I'll pass on that idea!