Thai Style Tilapia Food

STEAMED FISH WITH LIME AND GARLIC RECIPE (ปลากะพงนึ่งมะนาว)

Steps:

• Make sure your fish is scaled and gutted, and then score the fish with 3 diagonal incisions on each side of the fish. Cut off the top halves of the lemongrass, bruise, and stuff the lemongrass into the cavity of the fish. Steam the fish over high boiling water for about 10 - 15 minutes depending on the size of your fish.
• In a saucepan, heat the chicken stock until it comes to a boil, and then toss in the sugar, reduce heat, and boil until the sugar is completely dissolved. Pour the mixture into a bowl and set aside.
• Mince the garlic, chilies, and cilantro, and mix into the chicken stock soup, along with fish sauce and lime juice. Stir gently and then taste test. Make sure it's sour, and balanced with a hint of sweetness.
• When the fish is fully steamed, transfer it to a serving platter (with edges to keep in the soup), garnish with a bed of Chinese celery, and place the fish on the platter. Gently scoop on all the sauce over the fish, putting most of the garlic and chilies on the top of the fish.
• Make sure you eat with steamed rice!

THAI-STYLE TILAPIA

Steps:

• In a food processor or blender, combine the coconut milk, almonds, onion, ginger, turmeric, lemon grass, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Process until smooth.
• Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper on both sides, then place them skin-side up in the skillet. Pour the pureed sauce over the fish. Use a spatula to coat the fish evenly with the sauce. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.
• Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the puree is thickened and fish flakes easily with a fork.

THAI GRILLED FISH RECIPE (PLA PAO ปลาเผา)

Steps:

• When you buy your whole fish, ask the vendor (or yourself) to do two things: One, try to remove the guts from the gills of the fish, without slicing the fish open on the belly, and two, leave the scales on the fish (if you have the choice).
• Probably the first thing you want to do (if you're using charcoal, which I would recommend), is to get the charcoal going first, so it's ready when the fish is prepared.
• Make sure you rinse your fish with water and then pat them dry with a paper towel.
• Take your lemongrass stalks and beat and bruise them with something hard, like a mortar, or a rolling pin or something like that. This is going to bring out the lovely flavor of the lemongrass. Also prepare a small handful of kaffir lime leaves.
• Fold the lemongrass in half and begin to stuff the fish with a stalk of lemongrass and about 10 kaffir lime leaves. Depending on how big your fish is will determine how many stalks of lemongrass you can fit. I put 2 - 3 lemongrass stalks in each fish in the video. Make sure it's tight, but also make sure not to push so hard that you break the flesh of the fish.
• In a large mixing bowl or pan add ½ kilo bag of salt, sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour, and add about 1 tablespoon of water. Mix it up thoroughly, massaging the mixture with your hand, until it's fully mixed. You want the salt to be a little moist so it sticks to the fish easily.
• Add the fish to the pan and start plastering it with the salt mixture. Pat and rub the fish with the salt, making sure to cover the entire fish, and all over the head and tail. Do the same to both fish.
• For grilling the fish, you want to have a steady, yet quite low heat. Make sure you have a bed of coals, and if they are too hot you can either tone them down with a scoop of ashes, or push the really hot coals to one side of the grill and put the fish on the other side (using a little indirect heat). You can also add more coals as you keep on cooking. You want to slow cook the fish without them burning on the outside. My fish took almost 1 hour to grill. So aim for low heat for slow cooking.
• Once your fish is on the grill, it's time to get started on the seafood sauce (below).
• Try to wait for about 15 minutes before you flip the fish. If you flip it too early, when the salt hasn't dried out completely yet, the fish skin might get stuck onto the griddle. Flip the fish as little as possible.
• Keep roasting until the fish feels firm and the white salted skin has turned crusty and golden. It should take about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Take the fish off the grill, and set it on a platter.
• To eat the fish, you can either use a knife or scissors, and from the top of the fish, cut through the skin. The skin should cleanly lift off the fish revealing moist and beautiful meat.
• Thai grille fish (pla pao) is delicious with both sticky rice and white rice, and lots of seafood sauce!
• Peel about 15 cloves of garlic and grab about 20 Thai bird chilies (prik kee noo suan พริกขี้หนูสวน). Normal Thai chilies will work too. Pound ½ teaspoon of salt, the garlic, and chilies using a mortar and pestle. Doesn't need to be super fine, but make sure there are no big chunks.
• In a bowl, add the pounded garlic and chilies, 6 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lime juice, 3 tablespoons of water, 2.5 tablespoons of fish sauce, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Mix everything together until the sugar is dissolved.
• Taste the seafood sauce. Really, it's up to you how it tastes, but you want it to be slightly salty, sour, and slightly sweet.
• If you need to add a little more of anything, go for it!

TILAPIA IN THAI SAUCE

Steps:

• Coat the fish fillets in the cornflour, then set aside. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan, sizzle the fillets for 2-3 mins on each side until crisp, then remove and keep warm. In the same pan, briefly fry the spring onion, garlic and ginger, then add the soy sauce, brown sugar and lime juice and simmer until slightly syrupy. Spoon the sauce over the fish, scatter with chilli, Thai basil or coriander, then serve with the lime wedges.

THAI CURRIED TILAPIA SKILLET

Steps:

• Cook vegetables, garlic and ginger in large saucepan sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 2 to 3 min. or until vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring frequently.
• Add next 5 ingredients; stir. Bring to boil. Add fish; cover. Simmer on medium-low heat 10 to 12 min. or until fish flakes easily with fork.
• Serve over rice.

THAI-STYLE TILAPIA

Steps:

• In a food processor or blender, combine the coconut milk, almonds, onion, ginger, turmeric, lemon grass, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Process until smooth.
• Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper on both sides, then place them skin-side up in the skillet. Pour the pureed sauce over the fish. Use a spatula to coat the fish evenly with the sauce. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.
• Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the puree is thickened and fish flakes easily with a fork.

TILAPIA IN THAI SAUCE

Steps:

• Coat the fish fillets in the cornstarch, then set aside.
• Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan, sizzle the fillets for 2-3 mins on each side until crisp, then remove and keep warm.
• In the same pan, briefly fry the scallions, garlic and ginger, then add the soy sauce, brown sugar and lime juice and simmer until slightly syrupy. Spoon the sauce over the fish, scatter with chili and cilantro, then serve with the lime wedges.