ISO recipes for whole tilapia

[Constance]

I have some whole tilapia (heads & all) thawing for supper, and wonder if any of you have had experience with them?
I'd like to grill them, if they'll hold up.

[mugsy27]

Originally Posted by Constance

I have some whole tilapia (heads & all) thawing for supper, and wonder if any of you have had experience with them?
I'd like to grill them, if they'll hold up.

i have never tried to grill them b4...but if you coat the in evoo, add some salt, pepper, and just a dash of old bay seasoning, just fry them for about 2-3 mins per side and its very good!!

talapia is quickly becoming on of my fav. fish...so im very interested as well in what other ideas people have!

[Constance]

That sounds very good, Mugsy. We do that a lot with Salmon. I've only cooked Tilapia once, when I tried to bake some fillets. They didn't have much taste and seemed a little mushy. I think I was so afraid of overcooking them that I undercooked them a bit.

[Yakuta]

Here are two of my favorite recipes for whole Tilapia. One is inspired by Italian cuisine and the other by my native Indian. Both are enjoyed by my family:

Two Whole Tilapias - Washed and head discarded - Pat it dry and place it in an oven proof pyrex pan
1 bunch of italian flat leaf parsley finely chopped
8 large cloves of garlic finely chopped
pinch of red pepper flakes
3 tbsp of olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste
1 large lemon
baby carrots, small baby red potatoes and broccoli florets (any other veggies you like)

In a pyrex pan place the fish. Add garlic, olive oil, parsley and squeeze lemon juice and throw in the veggies along with the fish in the pan. Rub it all together. Cover and bake at 350 for an hour or until the fish and and veggies are roasted.

I serve this with a simple salad and some store bought artisan bread

Tandoori Fish

Again two whole tilapia (head off) washed and patted dry

Prepare the marinade as follows:
1 large cup of plain yogurt
2tsps of freshly roasted and ground cumin seeds
2 tsps of freshly roasted and ground corrainder seeds
1/2 tsp of ginger minced
1/2 tsp of garlic minced
2 tsp chilli powder
salt to taste
juice of one lime
pinch of red food color

Pour the marinade over the fish and allow it to set for a couple of hours. Bake in a pyrex dish (uncovered for 50 minutes or so). Serve with rings of onions sprinkled with some lime and wedges of lime.

[Constance]

Our fish was marvelous!
I thawed a cube of basil/garlic puree, and mixed it with about 4 tbls butter. We put the fish in a sprayed baking dish, and spread half of the butter on top, broiled about 5" from element until one side was golden, then turned the fish, spread the rest on the other side and sprinkled grated parmesan cheese over the top. When the fish was close to being flaky, we removed it from the oven and squeezed some fresh lemon juice over the top.

I also had some fillets that I cooked with the whole fish, as my husband prefers them. The frozen fillets are fine for frying, but they are too thin to broil or grill very successfully, so I stacked them in twos, essentially creating thicker pieces of fish. It worked great!