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Secrets for a Cheap & Easy Fish Dinner

Posted Thu, Mar 12, 2009, 3:51 pm PDT
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The high price of fish always amazes me. Fortunately, almost every big city has a Chinatown where fish is much more reasonably priced. You just have to know how to buy it and prepare it.

First of all, don't buy fish that will be served rare or uncooked from a fishmonger that you don't have a relationship with. Instead, look for fish that are best prepared fully cooked -- like tilapia. When you get it home, rinse it really well and rub it down with lemon.

If you are going to eat it right away, here's a great way to make it:

Dust the fish with a spice blend, perhaps a little bit of harissa and some salt. Then heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a heavy sautée pan over very high heat. Add the fish and sear it on both sides. Squeeze lemon juice over the fish and serve it with a side of broccoli raab.

If you want to freeze it to use later, wrap the fish tightly in plastic wrap, squeezing out any air bubbles, then put it in a zipper-lock bag and freeze it for up to two weeks.

  • 1. Posted by beaureceesabrina on Sat, May 03, 2008, 1:55 pm PDT

    what is tilapia

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  • 2. Posted by Ebeeze824 on Fri, May 09, 2008, 3:34 pm PDT

    tilapia is white fish that taste like whatever you put on it. very mild

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  • 3. Posted by MARY R on Wed, Sep 03, 2008, 12:03 pm PDT

    I love cooking tilapia fish.

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  • 4. Posted by ginger1 on Tue, Oct 07, 2008, 11:04 am PDT

    Tilapia is nasty tastes alot like catfish. Which like tilapia is a bottom feeder,which means it eats all the crap that sinks to the bottom, like wast material. Yuck not eating anything that eats the nasty stuff on the bottom of the river or lake. You are what you eat. It's not a mild fish either,it's pretty strong.

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  • 5. Posted by skturner1980 on Fri, Oct 10, 2008, 11:06 am PDT

    The only tilapia I have ever had has been very mild flavored. (Mildness refers to "fishy" taste.) Salmon would be considered a strong flavored fish. Because of its mildness, it is great with various sauces or spices because it soaks up the flavor. Tilapia do not eat "crap" in the wild, they are omnivorous - meaning they eat plants, bugs, whatever.

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  • 6. Posted by JACKIE A on Mon, Oct 13, 2008, 6:07 am PDT

    I like Tilapia, it is a very mild fish, but I never new you could cook it first and freeze it. That sounds very economical. I will try it.

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  • 7. Posted by Michael T on Fri, Mar 13, 2009, 1:31 pm PDT

    Tilapia are not bottom feeders. They are south american cichlids. Close relatives of some very popular aquarium fish. Agressive, but delicious!

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  • 8. Posted by Michael T on Fri, Mar 13, 2009, 1:33 pm PDT

    #6- The suggested freezing was for fresh, uncooked fish. "If you want to freeze it to use later" as apposed to "If you are going to eat it right away," Eat well!

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  • 9. Posted by boardedney on Mon, Mar 16, 2009, 10:15 am PDT

    What the hell is #4 even talking about? Tilapia is related to Red Snapper but from different waters. Did you know #4, that when you go and pay $14 for a sushi roll at your favorite posh sushi place, in most cases, you are getting tilapia when you order red snapper?

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  • 10. Posted by gmike92 on Mon, Mar 16, 2009, 10:21 am PDT

    you can buy family size boxes of individually wrapped and sealed fillets of tilapia from almost any walmart (buying fresh is always the best) baking with lemon and other spices is also very good, very good saltwater mild lean white fish

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  • 11. Posted by Meme on Mon, Mar 16, 2009, 10:28 am PDT

    I thought tilapia was a fresh water (farm raised) fish rather than a salt water as stated in post # 10. Whichever is correct, it is an absolutely delicious fish. I like it the way I used to get it at my favorite Italian place. Sauteed with olive oil fresh tomatoes and basil.

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  • 12. Posted by lizleal1982 on Mon, Mar 16, 2009, 10:31 am PDT

    Tilapia wrapped in aluminum with a little bit of butter, some seasonings and squeezed lemon juice on it, then baked it at about 375 for 15 minutes... yumm! Buys really cheap and is very tasty over white rice.

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  • 13. Posted by Woody on Mon, Mar 16, 2009, 10:33 am PDT

    Thank you, thank you, thank you for recognizing that many people are observing Lent and can't have meat on Fridays!

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  • 14. Posted by meroulla on Mon, Mar 16, 2009, 10:38 am PDT

    Tilapia fillet marinated in salt,black pepper and lemon for 1hour then floured and pan fried , served with a tomato and onion, french dressing salad, yummy..Tilapia is fresh water fish from Lake victoria in Uganda and the largest export product for most of east africa. Can also be curried.

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  • 15. Posted by Michael T on Mon, Mar 16, 2009, 12:19 pm PDT

    Tilapia is a freshwater fish. Farm raised in most cases. Inexpensive and delicious.

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  • 16. Posted by Michael T on Mon, Mar 16, 2009, 12:27 pm PDT

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_tilapia

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  • 17. Posted by Jennifer K on Mon, Mar 16, 2009, 5:18 pm PDT

    I love tilapia. We eat it 2 times a month at our house. It's very mild, very inexpensive and tastes great.

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  • 18. Posted by Jacqueline G on Mon, Mar 16, 2009, 5:38 pm PDT

    I love tilapia, I actually just had some now Very good fish

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  • 19. Posted by Milt on Mon, Mar 16, 2009, 6:29 pm PDT

    Tilapia is a freshwater fish and is NOT related to Red Snapper. But most are farm raised and very mild tasting. The wild variety can have a "loud" taste depending on their habitat. The cleaner the habitat the better the fish. The Nile Tilapia which has the blacker skin can also have a more "wild" or loud flavor but this is not the norm. The Red Tilapia are the ones I find to be the best. As for Sushi restaurants using this in place of snapper..... if you truly know of any doing this you should expose their sorry behinds!

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  • 20. Posted by queen on Mon, Mar 16, 2009, 8:07 pm PDT

    the secret to good tasting tilapia is in the marinade which is made up of salt, pepper, lime and garlic. allow to stand for i hour, then rinse, make i inch slits, place fresh chopped seasonings in the slits,then flour and fry, adding fresh thyme and umeric into the oil.Now that is tilapia, Bajan style!

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  • 21. Posted by jjantea on Sun, Mar 22, 2009, 8:00 am PDT

    LOL Don't care where it's from, or what it eats, Tilapia is a very mild, great tasting fish and I love it. But, #20..I gotta try it your way. :) Thanks for posting that!!

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  • 22. Posted by Aimee on Mon, Mar 30, 2009, 11:01 am PDT

    Tilapia is a great starter fish for someone who does not normally cook fish at home. It's mild, inexpensive, easy to find and very good. My husband does not like fish in general but does not mind when I fix this at home....no matter what seasonings I put on it.

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  • 23. Posted by Mila on Mon, Mar 30, 2009, 11:31 am PDT

    The price for Tilapia is great! Tilapia is some good tasting fish.

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  • 24. Posted by sansunnystone on Mon, Mar 30, 2009, 11:52 am PDT

    any of you guys watch discovery channel? dirty jobs? talapia was used to cleans the waste water from the hmmmmmm, i believe u guys gets what i'm saying. i'm from malaysia, and we malaysian love talapia's. in our country talapia was commercially grown as food so it is clean. and talapia is not a cichcids but maybe in the same family.

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  • 25. Posted by mom2cozmoe on Mon, Mar 30, 2009, 12:01 pm PDT

    Ate this a lot when we lived in Mexico...gutted, floured and fried, the best ever. It cooks fast and tastes great, we always have some in the freezer cause we buy the filets by the box individually wrapped from Sam's or Wal-Mart!

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  • 26. Posted by mickey on Mon, Mar 30, 2009, 12:26 pm PDT

    Obviously number #4, ginger1, needs to educate herself on Tilapia.

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  • 27. Posted by angela f on Mon, Mar 30, 2009, 12:36 pm PDT

    thanks for all the inputs, i have never tried talapia, but now i most definitely will! My husband and I usually eat Tuna, wahoo, nice to try something different and inexpensive.

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  • 28. Posted by Margie M on Mon, Mar 30, 2009, 12:52 pm PDT

    ginger post # 4 is not a very smart woman!

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  • 29. Posted by Jim S on Mon, Mar 30, 2009, 5:56 pm PDT

    All fish eat waste...duh

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  • 30. Posted by J on Mon, Mar 30, 2009, 6:12 pm PDT

    I love tilapia. It's a great white fish. I usually buy whole and have them cleaned at the fish market. Before cooking, rinse the fish well with cold water and pat dry. Then I season it with garlic powder and salt then dust it with flour or corn starch and deep fry until crisp on the outside but not overcooked inside. Then serve with soy sauce and lemon juice mix. We eat it with rice. My kids eat it up with no leftovers but the bones. Enjoy!

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