Baked/Grilled Whole Tilapia Recipes

As you can see I left the head and tail of this fish intact. That means Diana and I will be eating this fish. As usual Carlos will never eat fish with the eyes starring back at him. He thinks the whole fish with its face was really creepy. Oh well, you know we Asians we like to eat every part of our food. Nothing goes to waste and moreover I think it tastes much better this way. I guess what is norm to us might seems strange to some other culture. Anyway, back to the fish. I don’t usually fry it at home as the smell will lingers around for too long. I will usually bake it in the oven. This is how I like to prepare my fish. It tasted just as good if not better than the fried ones.


Ingredients:
1 fresh Tilapia fish (about 1 ½ pound)
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp chili powder
Salt and peppr to taste

Toppings:
2” of fresh ginger – finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic – finely chopped
3 shallots – thinly sliced
3 spring onions – cut small
2 red chili or 4 bird eye chili – cut small
½ tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Clean the fish inside and out. Pat it dry with a paper towel. Cut a few score on the fish on both side. Season the fish with salt, pepper, turmeric powder and chili powder. Set it aside to marinate for an hour
2. Heat up the oven to 400 degree F. Line the baking pan with some aluminium foil. Drizzle the base with a bit of olive oil. Place the fish on the center of the baking pan, drizzle some oil on the fish and bake the fish for 35-40 min (depend on the size of the fish).
3. In the meantime, cook the topping. heat up about 3 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan. Add in shallots, garlic and ginger and stir-fry until lightly brown and fragrant. Add in the cili and spring onions. Continue to stir fry until fragrant. Add in seasonings. Dish out and set it aside.
4. Once the fish is almost done, switch the oven to broil. Grill the fish until the skin is golden brown, turn the fish over and grill the other side until brown.
5. Remove the fish to the serving plate and top it with the toppings. Serve immediately.