This is one of the easy dishes that I love to make.. it involves pan-frying..my favorite way of cooking fish or anything before I really learned how to cook. 🙂 This particular dish is also inspired by one of my favorite chef, Wolfgang Puck ( I miss his show..he makes me smile/laugh..love his accent).
He prepared this with Tilapia filllet with the skin on which was fried crispy..hmmn imagine that…if you haven’t had fried tilapia with crisp skin before, well you are missing something..it’s super yummy, it’s one of my favorite food, crispy- on- the- outside-flaky- on- the- inside fried fish.
My mom makes a similar dish called escabeche using whole fish. She loves to prepare this for us when I was a kid and I remember not liking it because it has strong vinegar scent and taste and it’s a little spicy for me ( I only began liking hot and spicy food when I got married).
I didn’t like the taste of onion and ginger but my mom had this habit of feeding us something we don’t care much about maybe in the hopes of making me and my siblings to eventually like it too..well, she often succeeds but with this one, it took her long years of trying with me, I was a picky eater as a child and I used to hate the smell of vinegar.
I began to appreciate onions, ginger, vinegar and other strong spices when I began taking real interest in cooking and recreating my mother’s dishes. I missed them so much when I was in college and more so when I got married.
TILAPIA FILLET WITH GINGER BALSAMIC SAUCE
inspired by Wolfgang and my mom’s fish escabeche
note: this is one of my no-recipe recipes, but don’t worry it’s hard to ruin this, you can always adjust the amount of seasoning to your liking as you cook the sauce /glaze and make it your own 😉
I used skinless Tilapia fillet as you can see in the photo because it’s the only one I can find at the time I wanted to make this dish.. next time I’ll ask to have a fresh one fillet-ed with skin on.
Ingredients:
tilapia fillet (with skin preferably, or any fish you want)
flour seasoned with salt and pepper (1/2 cup flour with 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper and some cayenne powder is a good way to start)
ginger root, minced
onion, minced
balsamic vinegar
soy sauce ( I used kikkoman)
red pepper flakes (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
honey
extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Directions:
First, heat some EVOO in a frying pan (about 2 tablespoons) on medium high heat; while waiting for that, pat-dry fish fillet with paper towels and dredge fillet in flour. Gently lay each fillet on the frying pan and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side.
Set aside cooked tilapia on a platter and on the same pan, add some oil if there’s none left from frying, about a tablespoon. Saute minced onion and ginger until onion becomes transparent.
Add about 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, lower heat a little and let it cook for a minute (to get rid of vinegar-y taste) before adding in some soy sauce, about the same amount as the vinegar, add some water.
Season with salt and pepper to taste and let boil then lower heat to simmer and cook until the mixture has almost evaporated then and add enough water to your liking; add a little if you want a stronger or concentrated glaze, simmer for about a minute..
Add about a teaspoon of honey and simmer for about half a minute to finish the dish and pour glaze over the cooked tilapia. Sprinkle sliced spring onions for garnish.
Serve with hot rice and enjoy! 🙂
Thanks for reading and Have a nice day! 🙂
Tilapia Fillet with Ginger Balsamic Glaze
Ingredients
- TILAPIA FILLET WITH SKIN PREFERABLY, OR ANY FISH YOU WANT
- FLOUR SEASONED WITH SALT AND PEPPER 1/2 CUP FLOUR WITH 1/4 TSP EACH OF SALT AND PEPPER AND SOME CAYENNE POWDER IS A GOOD WAY TO START
- GINGER ROOT MINCED
- ONION MINCED
- BALSAMIC VINEGAR
- SOY SAUCE I USED KIKKOMAN
- RED PEPPER FLAKES OPTIONAL
- SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE
- HONEY
- EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL EVOO
Instructions
- FIRST, HEAT SOME EVOO IN A FRYING PAN (ABOUT 2 TABLESPOONS) ON MEDIUM HIGH HEAT; WHILE WAITING FOR THAT, PAT-DRY FISH FILLET WITH PAPER TOWELS AND DREDGE FILLET IN FLOUR. GENTLY LAY EACH FILLET ON THE FRYING PAN AND COOK FOR ABOUT 3-4 MINUTES ON EACH SIDE.
- SET ASIDE COOKED TILAPIA ON A PLATTER AND ON THE SAME PAN, ADD SOME OIL IF THERE’S NONE LEFT FROM FRYING, ABOUT A TABLESPOON. SAUTE MINCED ONION AND GINGER UNTIL ONION BECOMES TRANSPARENT.
- ADD ABOUT 1/4 CUP BALSAMIC VINEGAR, LOWER HEAT A LITTLE AND LET IT COOK FOR A MINUTE (TO GET RID OF VINEGAR-Y TASTE) BEFORE ADDING IN SOME SOY SAUCE, ABOUT THE SAME AMOUNT AS THE VINEGAR, ADD SOME WATER.
- SEASON WITH SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE AND LET BOIL THEN LOWER HEAT TO SIMMER AND COOK UNTIL THE MIXTURE HAS ALMOST EVAPORATED THEN AND ADD ENOUGH WATER TO YOUR LIKING; ADD A LITTLE IF YOU WANT A STRONGER OR CONCENTRATED GLAZE, SIMMER FOR ABOUT A MINUTE..
- ADD ABOUT A TEASPOON OF HONEY AND SIMMER FOR ABOUT HALF A MINUTE TO FINISH THE DISH AND POUR GLAZE OVER THE COOKED TILAPIA. SPRINKLE SLICED SPRING ONIONS FOR GARNISH.