Pan Fried Whole Tilapia
There’s something wrong with this picture. I mean, this photo shouldn’t be here. Why? Because I really don’t care for fish served that way. At all! First off, I just hate the fact that it is staring at me. I mean, come on, food with a face? Not a big fan… And secondly, I hate bones. I hate any meat that has bones, save for steaks. Give me a good rib steak and I turn into a humanus carnivorous of the worst kind, and I will gnaw on that bone until it’s almost bare. Other than that, debone, please!
When I cook a fish whole, it’s usually a big “family size” salmon, and I bake it in the oven. Only the meat ever makes it to the plate. So why did I choose to take the whole fish served on the plate with head and all route? Quite simply because it’s something I had never done before and I wanted to give it a try. Mind you, initially, I was supposed to buy snapper fillets at the grocery, but they didn’t have any… That threw me off a little, but when I saw the cute little tilapias all bunched up on the ice, I thought that was a perfect replacement and a great opportunity to learn something new: how to panfry a fish.
The whole experience went rather well, but don’t think I will be doing this regularly because, well, I still seriously don’t care for bones and I can’t say I appreciated the experience. I have to admit though that the fish itself might have been one of the juiciest fish I’ve ever had. So unbelievably tender and moist! For that reason alone, there is a fairly good chance that I will eventually repeat the experience, only next time, the fish will get deboned before it makes it to my plate. At least that way, it won’t be giving me the eye while I’m picking at its flesh…
You will need, per person
1 Whole Tilapia, gutted, cleaned and descaled
Quick Marinade
- The juice of half a lemon
- ¼ cup fresh dill, chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp olive oil
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients of the quick marinade together. Make 3-4 slits on each side of the fish.
- Place the fish in a shallow dish and stuff the dill in the cavity. Pour the liquid over the fish and place it in the fridge to marinate for 15-20 minutes.
- Heat some olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. When you pan is hot enough, place the fish in and cook the first side for about 10 minutes. Flip the fish, cover and cook for an extra 5 minutes.
- Serve with side of your choice (I went for warm rapini, which I find goes beautifully with lemon and dill)
2 Comments on “Pan Fried Whole Tilapia”
I’ve only ate one whole fish in my life. I’ve only ever dealt with bones once, with that same fish, in my life. It was a Tilapia. And amazingly, I quickly learned how to glean the meat off the bone, plus if I accidentally got a bone in my mouth it was just a wee thing. As I ate the fish and then flipped it over, I learned quickly how to get the meat, and the final product was a Tilapia just with a skeleton. And me being very satisfied at eating it.
I just made this, but with dried dill and bottled lemon juice, since that’s what I had on hand. I think I had the pan too hot at first, and it stuck badly to the pan when I flipped it over, and an even bigger mess when I took it out of the pan. I’ll have to experiment with what to set my stove to, how much oil to use, etc.
This came out absolutely delicious, and cooked much more reliably than when I tried to bake it (my oven too way too long to preheat!) I definitely plan to do this again!