Garlic Infused Thai Tilapia Recipe

This Holy Week we've been trying to stay on a fish diet.  I know Good Friday's over, but we've decided to keep it meat-free at home for as long as we can (stand it).  Easter Sunday's my limit.  Harhar.

Anyway, I was supposed to make Teriyaki Fish for lunch earlier, but after assessing my ingredients on hand, I managed to conjure up something a little bit more interesting instead.  If done right, you could have this dish out in 30, maybe 45 minutes tops.  I know I haven't been posting a lot of my recipes here, so I thought I'd make up for it with this simple and tasty Thai inspired Tilapia recipe. 

Ingredients:

• 500 g Tilapia fillets (approx. 4 fillets)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 C flour
• 1 T Italian seasoning
• 1/2 t ground black pepper
• 1/2 C vegetable oil

 Thai-Garlic Glaze:

• 1 T sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 C soy sauce
• 2 T white sugar (adjust according to preference)
• 3 T water
• 3 T rice wine
• 1/2 T flour
• a pinch of ground black pepper
• a pinch of dried chili flakes (adjust according to preference)
• 2 pcs. dried chili, chopped
• 1 sprig of parsley or basil, chopped

Drain and thaw out your Tilapia fillets.  While you're waiting for your fish to thaw out, I recommend getting started on the Thai-Garlic glaze to save time.

To get started on the glaze, in a small sauce pan, sweat out your minced garlic in sesame oil over low heat.  This helps extract the maximum amount of flavor from your garlic.  Just before the garlic browns, add the soy sauce, water, and sugar into the sauce pan.  Stir over low heat.  Just be careful not to burn the sauce.  Once you get a light simmer, add the white pepper, chili flakes, and rice wine to your sauce.  Simmer for about a minute more (to cook out the alcohol) and then add the flour to the sauce while stirring constantly to thicken it.  Turn off the fire and set aside.

For your flour mixture, simply combine the flour , italian seasoning, and white pepper.  Set aside.

Cut fillets into 1 1/2-inch strips.  Rub minced garlic over both sides of the fillets, and then proceed to sprinkle the salt evenly over the fish.  I prefer to keep the salt low since a lot of the flavor will be coming from the Thai-Garlic glaze.  Also, only salt the fish right before you're ready to dredge the them in the flour mixture.  Lastly, make sure your fillets are completely and evenly covered with the flour on all sides.

In a non-stick pan, heat the vegetable oil over high-medium heat.  The vegetable oil should cover at least halfway up the sides of your fish fillets to get that nice sear on it.  It also helps to properly seal in the juices of the Tilipia.  Once your oil is hot enough, gently place the fish fillets in the pan, while making sure you don't over crowd the pan.  Fry fish for about 3-4 minutes on each side or until you get that crisp golden brown color on the edges of the fillets.

Drain your fried Tilapia fillets and then arrange them on a serving platter with the glaze underneath.  Add your finishing touches by garnishing your dish with chopped dried chilis and chopped parsley.  If you have basil, use that instead.  It just complements this dish way better than the parsley does.  Our poor basil plants died in the heat so I had to substitute. :)) 

The Tilapia should be crisp on the outside and tender and flaky on the inside.  The flavor of the glaze may seem too intense on it's own but when eaten with the fish, it should go together perfectly.

Have a happy Easter weekend everyone! :)