Many people love tilapia because its meat is sweet and soft but not crispy and deliciously irresistible. In particular, they also contain many essential nutrients that are good for health, such as Protein, Omega-3, Omega-6, carbohydrates, Calcium, Magnesium, and Potassium.
Dishes made from tilapia are bold in flavor and have an irresistible aroma. So how to cook tilapia in the oven? What are those delicacies? Today, we will introduce you to three attractive ways to cook tilapia for family meals. Let’s go to the kitchen to make it right away!
Tilapia fish – Source: maxpixel
How To Cook Tilapia In The Oven
Ingredients
- Tilapia
- Satay
- Minced chili
- Chili powder
- Minced garlic
- Cooking oil
- Lotus leaf (or banana leaves)
- Lemon, garlic
- Carrot, cucumber, and tomato
- Vegetables
- Common condiments
Recipe 1: Tilapia Filets With A Lemon Garlic
Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C).
Rinse tilapia fillets with cold running water. Dry with a paper towel. Arrange them in a single layer in a baking dish. Add olive oil, garlic, salt, black pepper, cayenne, and lemon juice.
Add a few slices of chili and lemon to the tilapia to enhance the dish’s flavor. On top, you can add chopped parsley.
Bake fish in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Serve immediately with fresh lemon.
You can buy tilapia fillets in the fish market – Source: Flickr
Recipe 2: Cook Tilapia with Vegetables
Step 1: Prepare and marinate fish
You soak tilapia fillets with diluted salt water for 15 minutes, so the fish no longer has a fishy smell. Then you wash it with clean water and use a towel to absorb the water from the fish.
When the fish is drained, marinate the fish with 30 ml of sake and 50 ml of soy sauce for 15 minutes. You use your hands to gently massage the fish’s body so that the spices are evenly absorbed on both sides. Finally, sprinkle 10g of white sesame on the fish’s skin.
Step 2: Prepare vegetables.
You wash baby red radish and cut it into 4. Peel potatoes, clean, and cut into 4. Next, wash tomatoes, and cut them in half. Then you need to peel the carrots, wash and chop them. And all cucumbers are washed, gutted, peeled, and chopped. Wash zucchini, and cut into slices.
Step 3: Grill the fish
First, place the grill on a tray lined with foil underneath. Next, spread a thin layer of oil on the griddle and place each fish slice on one side. On the other side, you put the vegetables on and arrange the ingredients evenly to cook evenly.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Then, bake the fish at 250 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes to cook the fish.
Step 4: Finished product
A piece of golden tilapia, cooked soft and rich, eaten with grilled vegetables, makes you want to eat it all the time without getting bored.
Roasted Tilapia With Vegetables – Source: Flickr
Recipe 3: Whole Tilapia
Step 1: Preparing tilapia fish
When buying tilapia, you cut open the abdomen to remove the intestines, cut the gills, and scrape off the scales. Then, wash with water and soak the fish in diluted salt water for about 5 minutes, rinse the fish with water again, and drain.
The fish is drained, and you use a knife to cut the fish’s body into diagonal lines lightly. Then you turn the fish back and cut another diagonal line. Do the same with the remaining fish.
Step 2: Marinated fish
You put in the bowl 5 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of seasoning, 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, 4 tablespoons of satay, 2 tablespoons of minced chili, 2 tablespoons of paprika, and 2 tablespoons of minced garlic, and mix well.
After that, you pour the mixture on the fish, wear nylon gloves, and use your hands to apply the mixed spice mixture on both sides of the fish and put the rest of the seasoning into the fish’s belly.
Next, you take a clean lotus leaf, spread it out on the table, put the fish in the middle of the leaf, and wrap the lotus leaf. Marinate the fish for about 30 minutes for the fish to absorb the spices.
Step 3: Grilled fish
You open the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes to stabilize the temperature in the oven. You take a piece of 40cm x 50cm foil, spread it out, put the fish wrapped in lotus leaves, and tightly wrap it. You put the fish in the oven at 220 degrees for about 30 minutes.
Step 4: Finished product
When the fish is cooked, you take it out. The grilled tilapia is fragrant with lotus leaves and white fish meat, sweet and fatty with the spicy taste of chili and satay. You use grilled tilapia with sweet and sour fish sauce to ensure excellent taste.
You can cook whole Tilapia – Source: Wikimedia
Tilapia In The Oven FAQs
What Are Some Tips When Baking Tilapia In The Oven?
- Use lemon as it eliminates any prospective “fishy” and “mud” odors.
- Garlic is also a component that has the potential to remove bad smells in fish.
- To keep a fish moist or tender, drizzle it with olive oil.
- For extra flavor, season generously with salt or black pepper.
- Cayenne pepper can add more flavor to a fish by imparting a slightly spicy flavor.
How To Choose A Good Tilapia To Cook In The Oven?
You should purchase live ones when there is a fresh fish market. The fisherman would also clean and prepare its cutlets for you. New fish should taste nice or fresh, with no fishy or foul odor.
If you do not have any access to raw tilapia, you can select a great fillet based on its appearance. It must be firm towards the touch, with mildly translucent flesh, not sticky and mushy.
Fillets must also not have white or colored spots.
How Long Should You Bake Tilapia?
The true response is between 10 and 12 minutes.
Cooking tilapia also isn’t difficult, although it does require some skill. Grilling is the best method for preparing fish. Heat your oven to 400°F, then line the baking sheet with parchment and aluminum foil so that you can easily clean.
Bake the tilapia between 10 and 12 minutes for each side. And make sure all fish pieces have enough space among them so they don’t stick together while cooking. It is also better to not overcook and ruin the delicious flavor that comes from cooking.
Conclusion
How to cook tilapia in the oven? With clear procedures to prepare three dishes from tilapia, it is hoped that each recipe will bring a different taste and color to create newness in your family’s meal.
Hopefully, through the above sharing, you will learn more delicious dishes from tilapia. If you love this type of fish, what are you waiting for without immediately saving the above suggestions and adding them to the menu for any family meal?