Grilled Tilapia
The humble tilapia…bow!
This is the all time favorite of my family, from my parents, to my in-laws, and now our children.
Tilapia is easy to prepare. I still remember my father cleaning it with salt, and my mother-in-law rubbing it against a stone!
Tilapia is also so easy to cook. And it can be cooked in so many ways. Fried (served with fried garlic). Grilled (served with a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, and fish sauce). Steamed (with garlic and ginger and served with a dash of sesame oil).
And because tilapia is so easy to work with, let’s begin!
Ingredients:
- Tilapia – number of pieces depends on how many people you are preparing for
- Tomatoes
- Onions
- Salt and pepper
- Foil (for wrapping the tilapia in. This is optional though.
Let’s cook!
Start by cleaning the tilapia. Since I live in North America, I get my tilapia frozen and gutted. The only thing I need to do is to clean the fins and the gills.
Back in the Philippines, I just tell the fish vendor to clean the tilapia. And he does – scales, fins, gut and gills. For free!
When I started cooking, I imitated my father, and the fish vendors in cleaning the fish. They used cleavers to chop those fins off. Unfortunately, I was not a good aim. So I resorted to using kitchen scissors instead. I found it faster and precise to use. The gills I remove by hand – just a good quick pull.
If you are not doing the fancy grilling of the tilapia, heat the grill and once hot, drop the tilapia on top and hear it sizzle. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper to taste.
Now if I want to be a little fancy and add more flavor to the fish, I would chop a tomato, onion and ginger, and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Mix them all together.
Stuff the tilapia with the tomato filling, filling the tilapia inside the belly.
Cut a reasonable sized foil to wrap the tilapia in. ‘Reasonable’ meaning a cut that the tilapia can fit in. Then wrap the tilapia in the foil.
Heat the grill, and once hot place the foil-wrapped tilapia on the grill. This will cook in 25 – 30 minutes, a rough estimate.