Friends from the village where we used to live dropped by unexpectedly last Sunday, August 28. Mom was thawing out some chicken and tilapia to make Chicken Marsala and Steamed Tilapia respectively. As she chatted away with her friend, I volunteered to whip up the Steamed Tilapia.
Tilapia is internationally known as St. Peter's fish. Why? Because it was what he and his family would normally catch in the sea of Galilee. So says my godfather (ninong) who is a priest and has traveled to the Holy Land. Their tour guide led them to view the sea of Galilee and what Peter would have as "catch of the day." Lo and behold, it was the humble tilapia.
Enough of the side note and on with the show...
Here's my take on Steamed Tilapia with a couple of things I learned from watching Jamie Oliver on TV:
Ingredients:
4 medium sized Tilapia, cleaned (no scales, no guts please)
1 onion, chopped coarsely
olive oil
2 lemons, zested and juiced
some parsley, chopped coarsely as well
salt and pepper to season
aluminum foil for wrapping
Directions:
Prepare your steamer by boiling some water in the bottom pan. Mix together onions, half of the parsley, lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon, some salt and pepper. Stuff these ingredients inside the tilapia - in the cavity created when the fish was gutted. Cut some sheets of foil - around three times the width of the fish. Onto the foil: drizzle some oil, squeeze some lemon juice, sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper. Lay the tilapia in the center of the foil, drizzle with more oil, lemon, salt, pepper and parsley. Bring the ends of the foil together, fold all sides to create an envelope that would seal in all the juices and flavor as it steams. Repeat for the rest of your fish. Steam for 12 to 15 minutes. Serve with hot, steamed rice.
Recipe serves 4
You can substitute tilapia with lapu-lapu, bangus, tanigue or any fresh fish available.
Yum. :)
Tilapia is internationally known as St. Peter's fish. Why? Because it was what he and his family would normally catch in the sea of Galilee. So says my godfather (ninong) who is a priest and has traveled to the Holy Land. Their tour guide led them to view the sea of Galilee and what Peter would have as "catch of the day." Lo and behold, it was the humble tilapia.
Enough of the side note and on with the show...
Here's my take on Steamed Tilapia with a couple of things I learned from watching Jamie Oliver on TV:
- You can't go wrong with lemon and olive oil with fish.
- How to effectively fold tin foil.
- Having fresh herbs handy and not be afraid to use them... a lot.
Ingredients:
4 medium sized Tilapia, cleaned (no scales, no guts please)
1 onion, chopped coarsely
olive oil
2 lemons, zested and juiced
some parsley, chopped coarsely as well
salt and pepper to season
aluminum foil for wrapping
Directions:
Prepare your steamer by boiling some water in the bottom pan. Mix together onions, half of the parsley, lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon, some salt and pepper. Stuff these ingredients inside the tilapia - in the cavity created when the fish was gutted. Cut some sheets of foil - around three times the width of the fish. Onto the foil: drizzle some oil, squeeze some lemon juice, sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper. Lay the tilapia in the center of the foil, drizzle with more oil, lemon, salt, pepper and parsley. Bring the ends of the foil together, fold all sides to create an envelope that would seal in all the juices and flavor as it steams. Repeat for the rest of your fish. Steam for 12 to 15 minutes. Serve with hot, steamed rice.
Recipe serves 4
You can substitute tilapia with lapu-lapu, bangus, tanigue or any fresh fish available.
Yum. :)
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