Best way to cook tilapia

[Screw_Michigan]

I bought some frozen tilapia fillets the other day and have been thinking of the best, i.e. healthiest ways to cook them. I have tried baking them with salt and pepper on top, but I thought it could have come out better. I have been sauteeing them in EVOO and some fish fry batter the last few nights, they have been really good but I am trying to be "healthy." Any suggestions?

[missjo]

My version of Fish Tacos
Ingredients
700g firm white fish fillets
12 corn Tortilla’s
Marinade
¼ cup Extra Virgin olive oil
1 1/2 limes juiced
1 fresh jalapeno pepper finely chopped
1 tablespoon Ancho chilli powder
1 teaspoon Garlic powder
¼ cup chopped fresh corriander leaves
¼ teaspoon salt
Mix together all ingredients for marinade coat fish fillets well & leave for 20 – 30 min
Using a hot pan or bbq grill cook for 4 min on one side flip then about a min for the other
Let rest for 5 min then cut into big chunks
Mexican coleslaw
¼ small cabbage finely shredded
1 extra large or 2 med carrots grated
1 large tomato quartered then thinly sliced
½ red onion finely sliced
½ cup chopped coriander
1 jalepeno chilli pepper seeded & finely sliced
1 large ripe avocado diced
Toss ingredients together in a large salad bowl & add dressing just before serving
Dressing
¼ cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
½ Lime juiced

To Serve
Warm Tortilla's on grill or in a dry pan
Put a large mound of salad on a tortilla & top with chunks of fish fold in half & nom nom nom!

[Dinsdale]

The nastiest meat/fish you can possibly ingest, and you're looking for "healthy"?

How very Screwey of you. Your consistency is unreal.

[Goober McTuber]

I bought some frozen tilapia fillets the other day and have been thinking of the best, i.e. healthiest ways to cook them. I have tried baking them with salt and pepper on top, but I thought it could have come out better. I have been sauteeing them in EVOO and some fish fry batter the last few nights, they have been really good but I am trying to be "healthy." Any suggestions?

What Dinsdale said. I thought maybe you were cooking food for your cat.

You're trying to be "healthy"? Sounds like Screwball is FAT.

[Screw_Michigan]

Let's just say I'm trying to not become FAT like shutyomouth. Or as bald as you.

[Goober McTuber]

Or as bald as you.

And yet another swing and a miss for the Mighty Casey of smack. I have nice full head of hair. Yes, 50 shades of grey.

[Mikey]

Agree on the nastiness of tilapia.

First, on general principles, I won't touch any fish grown on a "farm."
Second, if I want fish I'll buy something fresh. I know Dins has a slightly different definition of "fresh" than I do but generally it means not frozen, and still looking and smelling like it was recently alive.

Usually prefer to throw fish on the grill with minimal seasoning (S&P and spray with EVOO) or in the case of a nice thick ahi steak searing it on a hot cast iron skillet.

For a smaller fillet of a white fish, and I did this a few days ago with some small mahi mahi fillets with good results, put a couple of tablespoons of EVOO in your skillet on medium heat and add a little butter if you like that flavor. Crush a couple of garlic cloves and throw them in until browned. Remove the garlic (or leave it in). Season the fish on one side with S&P. Put it in the pan and cook for a couple of minutes, seasoning the other side after it's in the pan. Turn it over and cook it for a few minutes on the other side.

Optional additions, while cooking the second side, squeeze a little lemon juice over it. Sprinkle some paprika and/or minced fresh flat leaf parsley before removing from the pan.

If you want "healthy," skip the batter.

[Screw_Michigan]

Thanks, Mikey. What fish would you suggest other than tilapia? I guess I chose it because it was something I had before and it was $8 for a bag of frozen fillets.

[Goober McTuber]

Look for the words "wild caught" on the package.

No, we're not talking about your work here.

[Screw_Michigan]

Thanks, Gobbles McTubesteak. Now suffer frostbite of the penis.

[Mikey]

Thanks, Mikey. What fish would you suggest other than tilapia? I guess I chose it because it was something I had before and it was $8 for a bag of frozen fillets.

Seriously, if you like the frozen tilapia there's not all that much wrong with using it.

For fresh fish it all depends on what's available, and that's probably different where you are than where I am. Try a few different types and see what you like. For sauteing a filet as described, these might do:

Mahi mahi
halibut
flounder
cod
sole
sea bass (not Chilean sea bass, which isn't sea bass)
grouper

[Dinsdale]

First, on general principles, I won't touch any fish grown on a "farm."

With tilapia, it's not really a "farm" -- more like a settling pond at a wastewater plant.

Straight nasty.

[Dinsdale]

sea bass (not Chilean sea bass, which isn't sea bass)

Every region of the world has a different definition of sea bass.

Around here, "sea bass" is any of the Pacific Rockfish (about a buhzillion species, mostly just different in colors, and I know California has at least 20 different types). In stores here in Oregon, it's all sold as "red snapper," which is also different everywhere you go.

[Mikey]

sea bass (not Chilean sea bass, which isn't sea bass)

Every region of the world has a different definition of sea bass.

Around here, "sea bass" is any of the Pacific Rockfish (about a buhzillion species, mostly just different in colors, and I know California has at least 20 different types). In stores here in Oregon, it's all sold as "red snapper," which is also different everywhere you go.

Yep, there's also a couple of fish (cabrilla and corvina) commonly referred to around here as Mexican sea bass. Whatever they are they grill up pretty nicely.

"Chilean sea bass" is a slightly different story, though. The name was made up in the 70s, for what was otherwise known as a Patagonian tooth fish, by some fish wholesaler who wanted to create a US market.

[mvscal]

Second, if I want fish I'll buy something fresh. I know Dins has a slightly different definition of "fresh" than I do but generally it means not frozen, and still looking and smelling like it was recently alive.

Not happnin here in Flyover Country.

A good and very quick, healthy to cook some fish is brush with oil, season it and broil it.

[Dinsdale]

Not happnin here in Flyover Country.

Gotta be a letdown, if you're into eating fish.

But you probably get good beef. For some odd reason, the Flyovers think they've cornered the market, and don't realize that we have high-end beef farms here Out West, which live in better conditions :roll'em: .


I'm going steelhead fishing in the next few days-BTW. Finest fresh fish to eat there is.

[mvscal]

Not happnin here in Flyover Country.

Gotta be a letdown, if you're into eating fish.

I am and it is, but it's a small price to pay for superior meats.

The beef is slightly yet noticeably better but the superstar is the pork. There isn't any comparison to be made. Hands down the best pork on planet earth. It is truly a revelation.

There is also a regional distributer of chicken in Nebraska that blows away anything I've had that wasn't hand raised on a family farm. The brand is called Smart Chicken. Totally organic and all that sustainable bullshit which I don't two fucks about unless, of course, it results in a superior product. I first bought it because it looked good. Great color and parts were prepared by somebody who both know what he was doing and gave a shit. Then I read up on them. Very interesting operation.

So, yeah, I miss fresh fish but I'll just muddle along with better everything else...except onions oddly enough.

[Mikey]

So, yeah, I miss fresh fish but I'll just muddle along with better everything else...except onions oddly enough.

I'm real interested in trying the mid western artichokes, avocados (the Reeds especially), citrus, almonds, winter tomatoes, etc. etc.

[Dinsdale]

The best of the best onions rarely leave the U&L. They kinda get hoarded.

[mvscal]

So, yeah, I miss fresh fish but I'll just muddle along with better everything else...except onions oddly enough.

I'm real interested in trying the mid western artichokes, avocados (the Reeds especially), citrus, almonds, winter tomatoes, etc. etc.

I don't eat artichokes, so I really couldn't care less about them. Avocados are from California and Mexico and are fine. Citrus is weak. Winter tomatoes are the same hot house dreck that gets sold in California.

[Ken]

So, yeah, I miss fresh fish but I'll just muddle along with better everything else...except onions oddly enough.

I'm real interested in trying the mid western artichokes, avocados (the Reeds especially), citrus, almonds, winter tomatoes, etc. etc.

Surely, this was in jest?

[Dinsdale]

Ken, surely that was in jest?

[trev]

This is why fish is gross. You never know what you are going to get. Disgusting, really. Uncle in Nebraska has a big catfish fry. He cooks it outside over wood. People think its great. I ate the side dishes the one year I attended.

[Dinsdale]

This is why fish is gross. You never know what you are going to get.

Some of us do.

[trev]

You didn't know which type of fish would bite until it did. What kind of fish is that?

[Dinsdale]

You didn't know which type of fish would bite until it did.

Yeah, I pretty much did. It was either going to be a Chinook salmon, or more likely exactly what it was, a coho salmon, which were present in much greater numbers.

Unlikely we'd catch anything else trolling the bay this time of year.

In the ocean ("outside"), there can be plenty of surprise catches, depending on distance from shore -- nurse sharks, blue sharks, various tuna. Depends if one is bottom-fishing or trolling.

[trev]

So it was some kind of salmon. I appreciate the honest response. You are just so dang cute I could wiggle your cheek.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

You are just so dang cute I could wiggle your cheek.

I'm not liking this.

I'm not liking this at all...

:|

[Dinsdale]

You'll really lose it when you learn which cheek she was talking about.