Tilapia... Whats Your Opinion?

[goboenomo]

What does everyone think of Tilapia? I hear a LOT of great things about it, but everytime I have it.... its fair. Nothing special. I dont get it.

I love tilapia. I have had it only 3 times, but It became my favorite fish that quickly. The first time I had it wrapped in tin foil with cajun spice, cooked in the oven. The second time I had it at a place called Ruby Tuesdays down at Niagra Falls, it was cajun tilaipa with shrimp covered in parmesan sauce. And the third time was again at home.

Once I saw this threat I was like "!!!!"

 

[Jeff G.]

Nothing wrong with it, but you have to remember it has delicate flavors. If you want strong flavored food, pick another fish.

One thing that is nice about it, it goes with almost anything. I am not sure you can screw up terribly bad cooking it. Of course you might not end up actually tasting the fish......

 

[Caine]

Tilapia is an excellent fish for Chinses style marinating, where you only marinate for 30 to 60 minutes, because it picks up the flavor rather quickly. I frequently use it in Kung Pao, Schezuan, and Mongolian recipes instead of beef, chicken, or shrimp.

 

[kitchenelf]

This is a fish that you have to season and flavor yourself - kind of reminds me of: I don't know where you buy your fish but mine don't come seasoned

I like to use tilapia in my fish stew but I still let it set on the counter with salt and pepper on it - it just brings it some flavor once added to the stew. I do the same thing if I use cod instead.

Caine has a wonderful suggestion with marinating. Sesame oil, spring onions, sherry, ginger, garlic, brown sugar.......those basic Asian flavors would suit this fish well.

As far as a way to bring flavor to the fish you could use:

lemon-pepper
blackened seasonings
lemon/caper/butter
topped with a fresh pico de gallo on a bed of black bean coulis
oregano/lemon/feta

Just know that tilapia is a delicate fish and cook accordingly.

 

[RPCookin]

We eat a lot of tilapia. It is affordable for those of us who can't get fresh salt water fish at a reasonable price (Colorado is a bit short on oceans). I guess you can be picky if you have money or easy availability, but for us tilapia is the poor man's flounder. I buy it when it's on sale from the supermarket seafood counter, or frozen from Sam's Club... about $3.50 per pound that way.

I will usually cook it at medium high heat in a non-stick fry/saute pan in a small amount of olive oil. I just quickly cook a little bit of chopped garlic in the oil first, remove and set aside, then cook the uncoated fish about 2 minutes per side. Season with a little salt and pepper and spoon the reserved garlic over it. Also just cook in unflavored olive oil and use one of several bottled finishing sauces that I have around. Or just lemon pepper or salt and pepper. I like it that way too, and it is a very dietetic protein source.

 

[strawberry]

I did some tilapia last night. Did it in a pasta primavera with some onions, mushrooms, garlic and tomatoes in a light cream sauce over linguine on a bed of fresh spinach.

To me its uses are almost endless. It's nice because it's a lot like chicken in that it's almost a blank palette to work with. The flavor is light and subtle so it takes to almost any seasoning well.

 

[LadyCook61]

I like it , pan fried, salt, pepper, panko crumbs.