I’m a non fish eater. About the only fish I like is that fried golden goodness you get at Long John Silvers. LJS however, does not mesh well with my recent decision to live a healthier life style.
So, what’s the best way to cook Tilapia? I’d like to make the “fishy” taste as least pungent as possible. (Basically, that’s why I’m not a big seafood fan.)
Right now I’m thinking of wrapping it in aluminum foil with a couple of lemon slices and throwing it in the oven.
Is that probably the best way to go? Or something else?
Thanks.
Tilapia (if fresh) is a very mild, delicate white fish, so you shouldn’t get any “fishy” taste unless it’s old. It needs to be cooked quickly and gently. A lemon slice or two with salt and pepper in foil is just fine. Or saute in white wine and butter. If you want to get fancy, throw in a caper or two.
My late husband wasn’t a big fan of fish and he loved the following recipe. Like you, he mostly disliked the "fishiness of the taste/smell, so I can vouch that this recipe won’t feature them. It’s tasty, and easy as hell:
[ol]
[li]season tilapia with Old Bay or whatever you like, and place it on a foil-lined baking sheet[/li][li]lightly coat with mayonnaise (or a mayo-mustard mix)[/li][li]thoroughly cover with crushed/chopped almonds, gently pressing to adhere[/li][li]bake at 350F until the almonds are showing a golden-brown color, about 10-15 minutes or so[/li][/ol]
I do this in a toaster oven, to avoid heating up the kitchen. You can’t taste the mayo but it melts into the fish and keeps it incredibly moist. Other nuts work fine, too - pistachios, cashews, etc.
This is how I do it, except I leave out steps 2 and 3. Tilapia makes good fish tacos, also. Sometimes after cooking I’ll throw it in a taco sized tortilla with all the other stuff you would normally put in a taco.
Rinse the fish and place it in the center of a glass or ceramic baking dish. Line with parchment paper if you have it, otherwise just put some vegetable oil underneath.
Using a microplane or a zester, grate the rind of a lime, a lemon, and an orange into a small bowl. Add a glop of honey, a twist of black pepper, and splash of good thick soy sauce.
Stir it up and slop it on top of the fish. Then bake at 350 until flaky and opaque.
This goes really well with peas and rice or fresh French or Italian bread. (Sourdough is a bad choice with fish, I always think.)
[ol]
[li]Pour a 1/2" of vegetable oil in a skillet and put it on medium-high heat.[/li][li]Wash the fish and pat it dry.[/li][li]Make 3 cuts on each side, then season with salt and pepper inside and out.[/li][li]Stuff the cavity with thin lemon and onion slices.[/li][li]Drop the fish in the pan and cook 8 minutes per side.[/li][/ol]
I have little luck cooking fish, but this method works very well for me:
Coat the fish in mayo, season (I like Cajun seasoning), squeeze some lemon juice over it, wrap in foil packets, then place in the Crockpot and cook on high for two hours. I don’t add cheese.
I don’t much like fish, either. Tilapia is very mild and is the only one I cook regularly - in one of two ways.
Method 1. Mix panko bread crumbs with parmesan (about half and half.) Add any seasonings if you like.
Dip filet in milk with a squirt of lemon juice, then coat with crumb/cheese mixture - really pressing it in. Bake in the oven on a foil lined sheet - spray foil with cooking spray and then spray the fish as well. About 400-425 degrees for 15 minutes or so. This will give you a nice crunch…
Method 2. In micro, melt 1 T butter, 1 T lemon juice and 1 tsp minced garlic per filet. Pour over filets in casserole dish and bake at 400. You can also sprinkle some bread crumbs on top for a bit of crunch.
I eat these with some tartar sauce. Both taste mild and not at all fishy and even my picky kids will eat them.
Batter and fry. Or; Coat and fry. Eat as-is, or make fish tacos (corn tortillas).
Or: Sauté some chopped onions and minced garlic in olive oil. Add some capers. Cut up a Roma tomato and add to the sautéd onions and garlic and cook a bit. Add the fish fillets and cook until they’re done. Eat the fish with the veg on top, or make some angel hair or other pasta and serve the fish and veg on top.
Salt and pepper each filt. Put each one on a piece of tinfoil. Sprinkle w minced garlic. Add a few chopped onions on top of that. Put lemon slices on top of that. Put a pat of butter on top. Seal up each tinfoil packet and bake at 350 for 15 - 20 minutes.
This is what I wound up doing. It was quite tasty except the damn thing fell apart on me as I was trying to transfer it from the baking sheet to the plate. Did I do something wrong I wonder?
Anyway, thanks for the recipe. I’ll be having this again.
Cooked fish can fall apart, it’s not one solid slab.
I’ve used the panko crumb/butter topping and it was tasty and had a good crunch. I had some seafood seasoning I mixed in. I baked each fillet on a rack over a cookie sheet to keep it as crunchy as possible.
Clean and dry Tilapia
Lay them out in a Pyrex dish.
Cover with a can of canned mangoes
Sprinkle liberally with Southwest Chipotle Mrs. Dash
Refrigerate 2-4 hours (my son usually does this overnight)
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or grill
This is a little more work than the other delicious ways of preparing it you’ve received above but this… this is heaven on earth and I’m not a real fan of most fish either.
Basically just dredge the fish through an egg white bath and then through coconut and a little bit of flour with some seasoning and bake. It tastes like heaven (if you like coconut, coconut haters may disagree with my taste assessment)
Ooo, I might have to try this. The one other seafood I actually like is coconut (fried) shrimp.
Regular fried shrimp, I’ll take a pass on. So I’m weird like that.
