# F'in Tilapia...



## chefofthefuture (Sep 10, 2011)

So the owner of the restaurant I work at came by today with 2 cases of IQF Japanese Tilapia. I hate tilapia, I really hate tilapia. Anyone have any ideas what to make with it?


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## SpikeC (Sep 10, 2011)

Hash?


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## SpikeC (Sep 10, 2011)

Chowder?


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## SpikeC (Sep 10, 2011)

Blackened tacos?


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## JBroida (Sep 10, 2011)

second for tacos


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## kalaeb (Sep 10, 2011)

What type of restaurant? For me I usually have it breaded and fried served with frijoles, rice and pico, but obviously I have only had it in Mexican restaurants. lol.

I think it would also go good with a ginger/soy sauce.


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## tgraypots (Sep 10, 2011)

+1 on the tacos


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## StephanFowler (Sep 10, 2011)

I like to serve it what I was taught as "florentine"

lightly breaded (dusted really)
fried in a saute pan w/ butter - remove fish and hold hot (finishing steps should take less than 1 minute)
deglaze the pan w/ white wine, add lemon juice and capers
toss in a good handful of spinach for about 15 seconds and remove to plate

make a nest of the now lightly cooked spinach and serve the fish on top


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## Vertigo (Sep 10, 2011)

I like Stephan's idea, though I'd probably add a lot more wine than is needed to deglaze, throw in some shallots, and then mount with butter after it reduces a bit. Tilapia Piccata? Why not!


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## Amon-Rukh (Sep 10, 2011)

My first thought was tacos too, although Stephan's idea sounds worth a try too!


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## SpikeC (Sep 10, 2011)

OOOh, piccata.....yummmmmmmm


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## ajhuff (Sep 10, 2011)

I hate tilapia too. It's the tofu of fish. No flavor of it's. I guess like chicken then too.  You can make anything and nothing with it at the same time. Substitute it anywhere chicken is called for. 

+1 on tacos.

-AJ


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## Salty dog (Sep 10, 2011)

Look on the bright side ..........it could be shwai (sp?) or that other new weird as$ named fish.


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## ThEoRy (Sep 10, 2011)

Salty dog said:


> Look on the bright side ..........it could be shwai (sp?) or that other new weird as$ named fish.


 
Hahahaha swai, basa, Vietnamese catfish... lolololol

Some people call that cod or grouper and get away with it too. At only $20 a case many lolz were had.

Parmesan crusted "cod"

2 part parmigiana reggiano 
4 parts mayo
1 part panko
lemon juice
old bay
paprika
garlic and onion powder
fresh Italian parsley and chives chopped finely
salt white pepper
mix
lol


Each piece of swai makes 3 buffet size pieces. two cuts and a fold over tail piece. Shown at the 5:00 min mark here

[video=youtube;vPiz6Aaa7Eg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPiz6Aaa7Eg[/video]


put a spoonful on each seasoned and seared portion of "cod" then roast for 6-7 min at 375 in a convection. Serve with sauce beurre blanc. No joking people will love you. It's such a hilariously funny inside joke at my job. 

Look just because that fish could live on land and breathe air it's not a big deal really!! lolol

Just make sure when you sear the fish you season it and dust it with wondra or rice flour first. That **** will not get golden brown otherwise! It is the only protein known to man that will not caramelize in a ripping hot pan.

This works with tilapia or any other bland as hell fish as well. Picked it up from an old school French chef back in the mid 90's and is currently enjoying a renaissance period on buffet lines everywhere.


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## chefofthefuture (Sep 10, 2011)

I actually made tacos tonight for staff meal just to see what the reaction was. Overall everyone was impressed. I made a tempura batter and fried the fish, then I finished it with pico de gallo, radicchio, and a cilantro lime cream sauce made with mexican table cream. 

However, I work at a wine bar where most of the food is French/Italian/Spanish/American to reflect our wine menu. We have done tacos before and they have sold, but it kinda devalues the restaurant.

I think tomorrow I'll go with the parmesan crusted route or the florentine route. Personally I love putting a champagne beurre blanc on bland seafood, it really classes up an otherwise mediocre dish. I'll probably marinade the fish in some champagne as well. Remember, I work at a wine bar so the champagne FLOWS around here. In fact all wine flows so much I started making my own vinegars with the left over bottles we have.


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## sw2geeks (Sep 11, 2011)

+1 for Blackened


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## JohnnyChance (Sep 11, 2011)

Sadly, tilapia is probably the must sustainable fish out there. Not that that is why your owner bought it.

A chef I used to work for a was a complete fckin hack, I hated the sh!t out of her, and literally the ONLY special she ever ran was Tilapia Piccata. 1, because she had zero creativity or knowledge to create anything new or different, 2, because the tilapia come completely butchered and portioned so it was no work and she had no butchering skills anyway, 3, it was an italian restaurant so she didnt need to prep anything extra for the other components of the dish.

If you can do spanish items, I would use it as a component in paella and ceviche (not actually raw mind you, blanched, cooled, mixed in with other seafood items, dressed w/ lime etc). Or staff meals.


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## ptolemy (Sep 11, 2011)

little OT: what is the board that Theory uses? looks like a plastic or something? I figured it's a restaurant type for easy disinfecting?


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## JohnnyChance (Sep 11, 2011)

ptolemy said:


> little OT: what is the board that Theory uses? looks like a plastic or something? I figured it's a restaurant type for easy disinfecting?


 
SaniTuff or some restaurant supplier equivalent.


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## ptolemy (Sep 11, 2011)

JohnnyChance said:


> SaniTuff or some restaurant supplier equivalent.



cheers


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## mhlee (Sep 11, 2011)

chefofthefuture said:


> I actually made tacos tonight for staff meal just to see what the reaction was. Overall everyone was impressed. I made a tempura batter and fried the fish, then I finished it with pico de gallo, radicchio, and a cilantro lime cream sauce made with mexican table cream.
> 
> However, I work at a wine bar where most of the food is French/Italian/Spanish/American to reflect our wine menu. We have done tacos before and they have sold, but it kinda devalues the restaurant.
> 
> I think tomorrow I'll go with the parmesan crusted route or the florentine route. Personally I love putting a champagne beurre blanc on bland seafood, it really classes up an otherwise mediocre dish. I'll probably marinade the fish in some champagne as well. Remember, I work at a wine bar so the champagne FLOWS around here. In fact all wine flows so much I started making my own vinegars with the left over bottles we have.



How about a fritto misto special since you do Italian food? Use that batter that you used for the tacos, but add a few fried lemon slices, in season and cheap veg like green beans or zucchini, yellow/white onion rings (cheap), some calamari and serve with a flavored mayo/aioli? Have the bar manager push some nice crisp white wines to go with it.


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## SpikeC (Sep 11, 2011)

*Droool*


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## ecchef (Sep 12, 2011)

Bastardized carpaccio or ceviche maybe? 

You could always grind it for chum, call it a day & go fishin' :fishslap:


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## thistle (Sep 17, 2011)

OK, haters, I am among the great unwashed who actually like the taste of swai/basa-quick, cheap, & neutral. I dust w/ Wondra & Old Bay, pan fry in canola/olive oil. Kids will eat it, leftovers are good w/ a squirt of lime or in an escabeche. I think it would be good in a chowder, although I've never tried it...


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## goodchef1 (Sep 17, 2011)

I would do the Mexican,Spanish, or Portuguese influenced dishes like tacos as stated above, or blackened , or maybe a dish with tomatoes. The earthy flavor does well with these types of preparations


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## add (Sep 20, 2011)

Real hard to mess up blackened Tilapia with pico and cilantro tacos.


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