Tilapia is a farm-raised, freshwater fish originally from Africa. (Biologists should recognize them as cichlids.) Tilapia filets are becoming very common in US markets. Its flesh is white and soft and handling can break up a cooking filet, so I prefer to bake it.
Ingredients
4 tilapia filets (total weight is under one pound, serves 2 adults) 1 lime (or lemon if you prefer) 2 tbsp butter Cilantro (fresh or dried) Ground red (cayenne) pepper Garlic power Salt (if using unsalted butter) Salsa verde
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Butter the bottom of a casserole pan just large enough to hold the filets. Place the filets in the pan, overlapping them slightly if needed. Melt the rest of the butter and pour it onto the filets. Slice the lime into four medallions and place one on each filet. Then sprinkle to taste the red pepper, garlic powder, salt, and cilantro over the filets. Bake the fish for about 20 minutes. The fish will be done when they flake easily with a fork.
Serving
Spread salsa verde on a half of each plate. Then using a spatula gently lift the filets from the plate and place them on top of the salsa. Filets can become stuck together so you may need to carefully break them apart with the spatula before lifting. If you have time, you may want to thicken up the salsa verde on the stove with some corn starch.
Goes great with rice and steamed vegetables.
Well I’ve got a whole bunch of Tilapia in the freezer. I’ll have to give this a try. I happen to really enjoy coating tilapia with a cornmeal/flour mixture (and cayenne pepper mixture if you wish), then frying in oil.
I’m glad some one is going to try the recipe.
Try putting grated pecans in the mixture before frying.
Grating pecans sounds like hard work, wise one.
MMmm. I did have the leftovers of this for lunch today, yum.
We do have a food processor, don’t we?
Here’s my favorite Tilapia recipe. It’s quick and simple to prepare after a day in the lab:
Dredge Tilapia fillets in a mix of flour, bread crumbs, and curry powder, and garlic.
Sautee in a pan over medium heat with a little olive or canola oil. Turn the fillets gently to avoid breaking them.
When both sides are browned, spoon some mango chutney onto the top of each fillet and spread gently to form a glaze. Allow the chutney time to heat up.
Serve with rice or couscous and steamed vegetables.
That’s my problem, which is why I started to bake my filets.
Tilapia are actually African cichlids??? That is way cool!
With a non-stick pan, crisp crust of breadcrumbs, and a broad spatula, I’m usually able to get one or two turns of the fillet without breaking it.
My first experience with Tilapia was about 15 years ago. I was fishing in a canal near Ft. Lauderdale. I kept catching large, plump, healthy Tilapia and skinny, half-starved native sunfish. The sunfish went back in the canal. The Tilapia were given to “Mr. Kitty” who waited impatiently for the hook to be removed and then crunched up them up headfirst.
Just doing our part to eridacate invasive species…
Most importantly, tilapia are herbivorous, which means that you can avoid all those nasty PCBs that salmon, tuna, and trout tend to carry.
I’m a big seafood lover but never much cared for the muddy taste of tilapia. Try your recipe with catfish.
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