This quick and easy fish bake is one of the first things we learned to cook after college, setting up house on our own. It seemed exotic at the time; now it's a pleasant, familiar standby on a busy weekday evening.
It's sweet and spicy, salty from the soy sauce and melting in the middle. We use tilapia since it's the most easily available thin white fish these days, but any thin fish fillet would do. It does, we admit, heat up the oven, but only for about 15 minutes! It makes great leftovers, too...
Ginger and Cilantro Baked Tilapia
serves 2, or 1 with lunch leftovers
2 large tilapia fillets (or similar thin white fish) - about 3/4 pound
1 jalapeno pepper (optional)
3 garlic cloves
1 inch grated ginger (1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Scallions, chopped for garnish
Extra cilantro, to garnish
Heat the oven to 475ºF. Pat the fish dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Place in a glass baking dish.
Chop the pepper and garlic, and grate the ginger. Put in a small food processor with the soy sauce, white wine, sesame oil, and cilantro. Whir until blended. Pour the sauce over the fish, rubbing it in a little. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily and is cooked through. It will be very moist and gelatinous, still.
Serve immediately over brown rice, garnished with scallions and cilantro.
This is similar to a dish I made this week (minus the tilapia as I'm vegetarian). I made penne with cilantro, ginger, and lime. With lots of olive oil and some grape tomatoes it's a perfect summery pasta dish.
view J-fer Rose's profile
This looks incredible. That picture is fabulous. I think I might try this. I wonder if it will work if I put the fish and the sauce in a foil packet and barbeque it....
view Janet is Hungry's profile
I bought some skin on wild salmon last night and have been trying to find a recipe that wouldn't overwhelm the taste of the fish. Does anyone think I could tweak this recipe for salmon?
view blondie's profile
blondie,
I think the recipe would be fabulous with salmon (I'm even considering making it that way tonight!) I find that salmon, esp. wild salmon, is so flavourful that it's hard to overwhelm it.
view Michelle of Montreal's profile
Thanks Michelle! I forwarded the recipe to my boyfriend and even though he doesn't really like ginger he thought it was a good idea too. Hopefully it will work out!
view blondie's profile
Good to see some tilapia exposure. It seems to have a downmarket reputation, but I started buying it recently because it's always inexpensive, fresh (still swimming in tanks behind the counter at some stores), and we really like the texture and taste. Plus, it's an ecologically safe fish, so even better.
view renata's profile
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fabulous!
view paula's profile
WOW! I am eating this right know its great and SO easy!
view shayna's profile
we had it last night and it was so easy and delicious...even i could make it.
view pasqual182's profile
Another yay...we ate this tonight and loved it. Great flavour and easy.
view HeatherL's profile
*sigh* Am I the only one who didn't love it? It might be because I used sole instead of tilapia, but overall, I thought the ginger was too overwhelming.
view Anokha's profile
Really enjoyed this recipe. We pulled back a little on the soy sauce and added a little magic, in the form of fresh chopped mango. Better served with long grain and wild rice mix...to add a little color and texture.
view suziwest7's profile
We made this last night as a salad, which worked out wonderfully. I love really simple recipes that pack in so much flavor!
view WeHeartFood's profile