Recipe: Twice-Fried Tilapia Teriyaki

[ellyssian]

tilapia fillets
canola oil
safflower oil
teriyaki sauce
balsamic vinegar
chives, chopped
basil, chopped
ginger, ground

In a large fry pan, fill with canola oil to almost a half inch depth. Add safflower oil to half inch depth. Add in teriyaki sauce and some balsamic vinegar (I might do it without the vinegar next time - I don't think it added anything useful.) Sprinkle in about a tablespoon or two of the chives, a few pinches of basil, and about a tablespoon of ginger. Heat the oil on medium.

When the oil is up to temperature, add fillets. Cook for a couple of minutes, then flip. Start another fry pan on medium heat. After the fillets are nearly cooked, transfer one at a time to the oil-free fry pan. Sear, flip, and then remove from heat.

Serve on a bed of rice (we used an herb & butter mix, but anything mild should work; I would have liked to use a teriyaki rice, but we didn't have any on hand.)

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

An expensive way (calories, clean-up time- water-soap-heat, $$, and health)to fry fish. Try it using only 1 pan and just enough oil to prevent sticking; 3 min./side is enough time. 2 pans needed only if fish doesn't fit in 1 layer.
Before you pooh-pooh it, try it, please. I really worry about the high fat foods you like so much and, yes, oil is a fat.

Oh, vinegar is often used in hi-fat recipes as a way of "cutting" fat absorption by the food.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Although I haven't had the dish scrutinized by any scientific authority for caloric count, 4 out 5 people eating it did claim that they could taste no trace of oil or grease - unlike fish prepared in 1 pan with "just enough" oil, which they have described as "greasy." The one panelist who did not make an oil-related claim might have, but I wasn't sure how to classify "awoooo awoooo awooogah."

The traditional pan-fry method - which I employ in some variation for my bacon-wrapped catfish and garlic-butter tilapia - actually leaves more oils on the fish. I'll continue to use it for those dishes (one out of those 5 prefers the garlic-butter preparation to the Twice-Fried Teriyaki; been years since I did the bacon-wrapped fish), but I find it still has limitations, and I might experiment with the boil-in-oil and sear method to see if I can reduce the fat levels there as well.

The largest limitation with the 1 pan method is the difficulty in producing an evenly cooked fish, especially when starting with frozen ingredients (some of us don't live as close to the ocean as others, you know!) The single pan method, while conserving overall oil usage, tends to need a higher heat that can cause delicate fish to break down quickly on the outside while remaining uncooked at the thickest portions of the fillet. The Twice Fried method really doesn't fry in the first pan - it's more of a gentle cooking.

Another limitation is that the light pan fry does not immerse the fish in the spiced and flavored oil, which acts as a rapid marinade that seems to impart those flavors better - both deeply and lightly - so that they're not just a layer of herbs sprinkled and sauces splashed on top while it cooks. Not that such methods aren't better in certain cases - I'm thinking specifically of rosemary on roast pork - but for the lighter fish, they distract too much.

As a fan of both cheese and bacon, I can't deny liking high fat foods, however I'm a bit insulted at the implication that I might not know oil is a fat. I would think anyone who doesn't know that fact really needs to brush up on their primary grade level education.

With that in mind, however, there are specific reasons for using canola oil. Canola oil is low in saturated fats (bad!) and rich in mono-unsaturated fats (good!) and also contains alpha-linolenic acid, an essential omega-3 fat that is deficient in most people's diets. It does have a very light taste that doesn't get in the way of the flavors of the food - hence the addition of a bit o' safflower oil to the brew, which provides very subtle hints of flavor but is still fairly neutral.

I may perhaps keep the vinegar - likely to try rice wine instead of balsamic, though.

While I am generally conservation minded, and have been known to employ assembly line production methods to increase efficiency in the kitchen (stuffed shells is perhaps the best example of this), I do not use any method or device that makes improvements in time and effort at the expense of the quality of the food. My purpose - and enjoyment - of cooking is not to provide base utility and sustenance, although those certainly are side benefits.

I once read somewhere that you should focus on each bite of food, savor it as a sacrament for each flavor and for its nourishing capability. Some may pray before eating, and some - especially when they ate something that disagrees with their digestive philosophy - may pray afterward, but I view each bite as a prayer.

Unfortunately, while I passionately enjoy the taste, my major failing is that I have not mastered the ability to pray slowly.

[lunajewels.livejournal.com]

I've done something similar to this using most of the same ingredients, only I bake them in about 1" of water w/a lid and put the seasonings all around while the fish bakes.

It all sounds yummy! I love tilapia