Pritong tilapia (fried St. Peter’s fish) and cheese-topped chili-cauliflower bake
July 26, 2006
Filed under Asia & beyond, Fish & other seafood, Healthy veggies
Filipinos have this long-standing love affair with fried fish. I don’t know what it is about fried fish but even hard-to-feed kids don’t shy away from fish if it is fried. And for some reason, fried fish has become associated with itlog na maalat (salted duck eggs) and chopped tomatoes. It’s as if there’s something missing if fried fish isn’t served with the itlog na maalat and tomato salad.
As predictable as night after day, when my husband arrived home from work and found me frying tilapia (St. Peter’s fish) in the kitchen, his first question was, “May kamatis ba tayo (Do we have tomatoes)?” I told him yes, but we weren’t having the pritong tilapia with tomatoes and itlog na maalat. He knew better than to object.
Even before I started frying the fish, I had already prepared a baked vegetable dish made with cauliflower and chopped finger chili topped with crumbled quickmelt cheese and chopped parsley. I kept it in the oven to keep it warm but with the door slightly open so as not to overcook the vegetables. I refrained from taking it out until the fish was ready… you know, the element of surprise is always a good thing.
This chili-cauliflower bake was inspired by Beng’s pasta dish called broccoli casserole with ham. This is not a pasta dish, however. Since I intended to serve it as a side dish, I seasoned it as though I was making a salad. That means I used a generous amount of olive oil and the juice of one lemon. Did my family like it? There were no leftovers. 1.2 kilograms of tilapia and a huge head of cauliflower. It was a great dinner.
Here’s the chili-cauliflower bake up close.
Ingredients :
1 large head of cauliflower
1/4 c. of olive oil
1 tbsp. of butter
1 tsp. of finely minced garlic
1 finger chili
200 g. of soft quickmelting cheese
chopped parsley
salt and pepper
juice of one lemon
Cooking procedure :
Trim the cauliflower by cutting off the leaves and the core. Cut into florets.
Split the finger chili in half lengthwise and scrape off the seeds and membrane, then slice finely.
Heat the olive oil and butter together. Add the cauliflower florets, garlic and sliced finger chili and cook over high heat for about one minute. Season with a little salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice. Stir a few times then turn off the heat.
Transfer the vegetables to an overproof dish, including the oil and juices. Crumble the cheese over the vegetables. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Baked in a preheated 160oC oven for five minutes or just until the cheese melts. Keep warm until ready to serve.
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HI CONNIE: YOUR COOKING HAS EVOLVED. THE RECIPES YOU PREPARE THESE DAYS ARE NOT TYPICAL “FILIPINO DISHES”. WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, IT WAS ALWAYS THE TYPICAL CHICKEN ADOBO, SINIGANG ETC., AND ALTHOUGH THESE ARE SO SCRUMPTIOUS, AT LEAST YOU ALWAYS OFFER VERY RADICAL ALTERNATIVES TO A TYPICAL FILIPINO FOOD FARE.
Hi Connie-
Just wanted to share with you a recent discovery- tilapia is also called tilapia here in the US. I miss fried fish so much but I can’t fry fish in my apt as I don’t want to risk stinking up the entire 24th floor of my building. Buti na lang my tita in California just sent me homemade tinapang mackerel (she used liquid smoke). All I need now is itlog na maalat from the Filipino store!
thank you, les. i think that’s called progress?? hehehe
wow, aggie, that’s great. now i can say “tilapia” without a barrage of e-mails asking what the english name is.
when i went to australia, i was surprised to find out that tilapia is also called tilapia LOL. i chanced upon a wet market and sure enough, there was a pile of tilapia and banner that sez: Tilapia! $ somthing, and get this, there was a small filipino flag! and the vendor was an aussie. plus the bangus, vendors call it bangus too! LOL. i was filled with wonder coz tilapia is not only found in the philippines.
and yeah, i agree… fried fish ain’t complete without kamatis and salted egg… i’ll try this cauliflower for a change. i’m going to make this on sunday, but i can already say that this will be GOOD.
Connie, I was wondering what filipino dishes you could recommend for a wedding. Thanks
paupau, the filipinos are invading the world. LOL i guess it’s an offshoot of migration.
jacky, what do you mean? are you going to home-cook the food or hiring a caterer?
tilapia is my family’s favorite! we cooked it in many different ways - fried or steamed tilapia filled with chopped onions and tomatoes, sinigang sa sampalok, nilagat, pinais, pinangat, pinaksiw, inihaw, etc… in any size. sarap!
i’m glad it’s availabale here in shanghai!
tamang-tama itong baked cauliflower mo, darating ang mga step children ko next week. may dalawang vegetarian kasi sa kanila kaya timing ang dating ko dito
oh yes! it’s called TILAPIA here in the US. except for one american waitress who called it TALAPI when i asked her what the lunch special was. my american best guy friend and i almost died laughing when we heard that. of course, his comment was not as nice (as in: ‘what the f**k is talapi???’)
btw, what’s the difference between tilapia and pla-pla and what is the english name for pla-pla? is it sea bass?
who would’ve thought?
my favorite fish tilapia witha a cauliflower-cheese bake!
the force is strong with you, jedi chef!
keep up the innovative kitchengineering!
I made tilapia ceviche a few months ago and it was nice, but frying a tilapia filet is by far the best way to enjoy this fish. Thanks for the recommendation on the itlog na maalat.:wink:
any news about your cookbook? when is it coming out, and if it is already out, where to get it online?sorry for my seeming ignorance. i just can’t cook and be online at the same time. hehe. by the way, any good recipes for lapulapu? there are some available here in the US. thanks.
Hi Connie-
Hope you don’t mind this lengthy post.
From Wikipedia-
“Tilapia is the common name used for a variety of cichlid fishes of the genera Oreochromis, Sarotherodon, and Tilapia. The genus name Tilapia is a latinisation of the Tswana (African dialect) word for “fish”, thiape [3], coined by Scottish zoologist Andrew Smith in 1840 [4]. Some species of tilapia are sometimes called St. Peter’s fish from the account in the Christian Bible (Matthew 17:24−27) about Peter catching a fish that carried a shekel coin in its mouth. The Bible does not describe the fish in question in any detail, however, Sarotherodon galilaeus galilaeus is common in the Sea of Galilee and has been the target of small-scale artisanal fisheries for thousands of years. Other fish, eg John Dory, have also been called St. Peter’s fish, and as such the most common name in the English language for these fish is simply tilapia. Restaurants and food producers often avoid using tilapia name and instead refer to the fish as whitefish or perch; this is especially common in Europe and the US where consumers are often unfamiliar with tilapia as a food fish.”
phynkee, pinangat is something i’ve always wanted to try with tilapia. so it’s good pala, ha? great, great.
beng, naku with the variety of soft cheeses available there, maybe a combination of cheeses will make the dish even better.
purplegirl, i always though plapla was just a bigger variety of tilapia. but according to another food blogger (CeliaK, if I’m not mistaken), plapla is the cross breed of tilapia and lapu-lapu.
thank you, spankyenriquez.
you’re welcome, Teo.
hi patrick. the cookobook is halfway done but i will have to retake some photos. i’m getting a new lens this weekend that is specifically for portrait taking. i just really want it to be perfect, or as near perfect as i can manage.
aggie, so the term “tilapia” is related to an African word? Very interesting.
Never mind the fried tilapia.
Gutom agad ako pag inisip ko itong chili-cauliflower bake .
hi connie, for last night’s dinner, I tried cookigyour sauteed bean sprouts with oyster sauce recipe, and I am proud to say that my husband loved it. I left out the tofu since he’s not fond of it.thanks a lot.
I have got to try your cauliflower recipe. Seeing your mouth-watering dishes drags me out of my lethargy.
By the way, our family finds the tilapia from my husband’s hometowm, Buhi, Camarines Sur as the best.
yes! lalo na pag fresh ang tilapia na nabili mo. super!
one thing that”s next to imposiible to find in supremarkets locally are frozen tilapia fillets
almost all of it sold to US or Europe after being harvested & processed some where in Pampanga
Masarap, Trosp, parang a new dimension to the fried fish culture. hehehe
lemon, may fish recipe ako coming up!
next week, phynkee, i’ll try pinangat.
richard, some months ago, i was able to buy tliapia fillets from SHopwise in Antipolo (archives entry). Not frozen but fresh chilled. But that was the one and only time I was able to buy tilapia fillets.
@Connie
I wanna try that! Hmm its rather hard to find grocery stores here kasi that sell different cheeses. Mostly parmesan and mozarella. Anyway every week we buy tilapia fillets. We get them from South Super Market here in Alabang Town Center.
Before Shopwise alabang sells those fillets too but now hindi na.
Elle, re cheese: I just used quickmelt cheese and it was great!
Re tilapia fillets: lucky you, you can get them regularly. Alabang is so far away from Antipolo.
Connie, sorry for the late reply. I had to search which dish I posted my question. I am looking for a recommendation for wedding dishes. It is going to be catered with in a high end restaurant. most of their menu selections are american dishes and I want filipino dishes. my friends like seafood but I do not want messy seafood as it is a formal restaurant. I also like some meat. I like your style so I am hoping for recommendations. Thanks in advance
Filipino seafood dishes that aren’t messy to eat, jacky? hmmmm… but we eat them kamayan style, di ba?
seriously, go for filleted fish or shelled prawns. well, that’s assuming it’s a sit-down meal. if it’s a buffet, a good combination… a meat/poultry dish, a vegetable dish and a seafood dish with a variety of desserts.
connie, have you tried “pinaputok na tilapia”? its a famous dish from Pampanga, a Cabalen dish. You put chopped tomatoes, onions and celery inside the tilapia and before frying it, you wrap it in banana leaf first, make sure to put a cover because it will pop just like firecrackers. the smell is so nice while its frying, you can smell the banana leaf and all the veggies in the air… yummy
Wow, Brenda, that sounds delicious. I hate oil spatters from frying but I think I’d like to try it.
Thanks.
doon po sa amin, pag sinabing pinangat na tilapia, its cooked with kakang gata, garlic and siling labuyo. tapos yung tilapia is wrapped in pechay leaves. hindi baguio pechay ha.. yung dark green talaga na pechay
:lol:
tapos konti lang ang sabaw nya, yung halos magmantika na yung gata…tsaka maanghang!!!!! tapos mainit na kanin!
yummmyyyyyyyyy
I’m craving for tilapia, i never have fish since i got here in US, and your sinigang post make me crave…ugh!!! and i cant find tamarind here, inimagine ko na lang since im craving for it maybe im still in my lihi stage…all your recipe are mouth watering and i’m trying to cook it all…:)
Ok to ah! Napaisip tuloy ako anong pwedeng substitute sa QuickMelt cheese. Diba sa pinas lang may QuickMelt?