Tilapia is one of the famous fish used by many cooks in the Philippines since it is a medium-firm, sweet and mild taste with the lean flesh. It also has a flaky texture and easy to cook, which gives white color to the flesh when cooked perfectly.
It is one of the very affordable Tilapia available in the Philippine market. Not surprisingly, many people love this Tilapia.
But it is not the only thing why many Filipinos love Tilapia. It is also because you could create different dishes out of that humble Tilapia, and one of those recipes is the Pinaputok na Tilapia.
Have you heard about Pinaputok na Tilapia dish? If not, don't worry! Filipinos love to name their dish uniquely. This Tilapia dish is one of the all-time favorites of many Filipinos.
If you wonder about the dish, come and let's dive into the sea of information about the Pinaputok na Tilapia recipes!
What is Best Pinaputok Na Tilapia Recipe
Pinaputok na Tilapia is a very well known Filipino fish cuisine in the Philippines. Pinaputok means "to explode or to burst" in Filipino terms.
Wherein, a whole Tilapia stuffed with a great number of herbs and spices like ginger, onions, and tomatoes until the Tilapia is almost bursting due to the great number of ingredients put in it. Then, the Tilapia brushed with melted butter afterward, wrapped in foil to secure the Tilapia.
Then you could put the Tilapia in the oven to bake it to a certain amount of heat to cook the Tilapia perfectly moist, juicy, and tender with great flavors.
These dishes are very easy to prepare and create. There are also various ways to cook the dish and different variations of the recipes provided below.
Ways to Cook Pinaputok Na Tilapia
This Tilapia dish is one of the great recipes to cook since you have four ways to cook it and make it more appealing and delicious.
Steamed
It is another way of cooking this dish. Steaming the Tilapia is the perfect way to preserve its taste and a natural flavor, even the Tilapia's meat juiciness. It is also the most healthy way to cook your recipes.
Many people suggested cooking because, unlike boiling it, which makes food submerge in the water, steaming keeps the food directly in contact with the boiling water.
You could ensure that the Tilapia meat cook is perfect without burning it or ruining a beautiful fish like Tilapia. You have to boil the water at 212 degrees to cook the Tilapia dish to perfection.
Fried
Frying this dish is the easiest way to cook it. Instead of steaming it, you could fry it depending upon the cook and crispiness you desire for the Tilapia.
It is a way of cooking, which is very similar to sauteing, where you would turn the protein twice or thrice or until the protein is perfect. You have to boil oil at a certain temperature to make sure that it could cook the Tilapia dish to your desired cooking. You also use tongs and spatula in this cooking method.
Oven-Baked
Oven-Baked is the most traditional way and the perfect way to cook the featured Tilapia dish. Like steaming, it allows the Tilapia to preserve its delicate taste and juiciness, making it more delicious and exciting to eat.
When you want to use this cooking method, you could use a turbo broiler for cooking the dish. It roasted and baked the Tilapia dish perfectly since the heat of the oven reached 370 degrees Fahrenheit.
After baking it, you could put it in the broiler for 15 minutes with 510 degrees Fahrenheit heat temperature to correctly cook the Tilapia's meat.
Grilled
Another great method to cook this dish is grilling it. It is a way of cooking that involves a perfect amount of heat to cook the Tilapia quickly. You could use either ceramic briquettes or charcoal fire heated by the gas flames.
It helps the dish to have a pleasantly charred flavor and perfect crust. You have to turn it side by side to avoid burning the skin of the Tilapia. You should give 4 to 5 minutes of cooking time on each side of the Tilapia to make it juicy and tender enough.
This method is perfect for recipes that require a minimal time of cooking since Tilapia has a translucent and succulent meat's taste and flavors.
Other Delicious Variants
A simple dish, yet you could do several variations to elevate the taste and perfect the featured dish's flavors using other ingredients combined with it.
With Mayonnaise
A Pinaputok na Tilapia is a simple dish with lots of spices used to give some Tilapia flavors. Adding mayonnaise helps the Tilapia balance all the herbs and spices you put in the featured dish. You could add it as a topping to the dish to make it more pleasing and appealing.
Mayonnaise is a thick cold dressing commonly used in varieties of foods like salads, fries, hamburgers, and sandwiches. It also adds to the other sauces to serve as the base of salsa golf, remoulade, rouille, hollandaise, and tartar sauce. This mayo is one of the perfect dressing to use in some recipes like the featured dish.
With Butter
Butter is a dairy ingredient made from milk or cream and fat. You could use it as a spread or as a condiment when the butter melted. You could also use it in sauce making, baking, or even in frying.
In this case, the butter serves as an added component to the dish to add a pleasant and aromatic smell to the Tilapia dish. It also allows the Tilapia to cook when baked and broiled it beautifully. The butter makes this dish into another mouth-watering dish.
With Oyster Sauce Recipe
This variation turns the simple Pinaputok na Tilapia into something superb by adding the ingredients' oyster sauce. It adds more flavor and taste to the featured dish.
Oyster sauce originated in China, and they bring to the Philippines as one of the amazing ingredients used in many recipes. It adds savory flavor and taste, making a slightly bland taste dish to have an authentic flavor.
Some use it as a topping, but in the featured dish, they used it as an added ingredient to help the Tilapia incorporate wonderful taste as you cook it.
With lemon juice & ginger Recipe
Since Tilapia is the main protein of the featured dish, adding ginger and lemon juice in the combined ingredients lessens the Tilapia's slimy taste. It also helps add a more sour taste to the dish to balance the featured Tilapia dish's flavor.
Lemon juice is a type of ingredient used to make cocktails, soft drinks, and lemonade and commonly used marinades for Tilapia to help neutralize the Tilapia's amines to add more taste. They considered it as a preservative on a certain food to oxidize it.
Ginger is a fragrant spice used in many kitchens today. They used it in varieties of dishes that the protein used has a slimy, fishy, and unpleasant taste like seafood and meat. It adds an aroma to the dish and, at the same time, eliminates the unwanted taste and flavor in the dish.
This combination is perfect for cooking and other ingredients to enrich the flavor of the featured fish dish.
Ginataang Pinaputok Na Tilapia
This version elevated this humble dish into something amazing and delicious. After cooking it as Pinaputok na Tilapia, you could put coconut milk or cream on it. You have to simmer it in coconut milk or cream and add red chilis if you are fond of spicy foods.
Coconut milk is a very common ingredient used in most Filipino dishes. It gives a creamy and authentic flavor to the dish that is why most Filipino love this versatile ingredient. You could use it either as a savory or sweet ingredient to create extraordinary cuisines.
In Banana leaves
In the classic cook of the featured dish, you used foil originally to secure the fish adequately. In this variation, you may use banana leaves as the substitute wrapper for the fish. Banana leaves add a more pleasing smell and aroma to the dish, which makes it stand out. It is pretty much healthier as well instead of using aluminum foil.
Trivia about this Fish Recipe
Did you know that Tilapia is the second most-consumed fish and most farm-raised fish in the world? Yes, you read it right!
Since Tilapia is environment friendly, it quickly adapts to changing environments from brackish to freshwater, which helps the farmers to produce them in different systems.
When you grill, steamed or poached the Tilapia, it becomes a great protein source, essential fatty acids, and nutrients. It also contains many omega-3 fatty acids other than meats, including beef, chicken, and pork.
Tilapia has a lower phosphorus emission and nitrogen per kilogram of protein produced than pork, chicken, and beef. It is also a hardy Tilapia that does not require the use of antibiotics for them to grow.
Tips for Cooking Fish
The featured dish would not pull off without the tips and steps you could follow to recreate the Tilapia dish.
- Make sure that the Tilapia you purchase in the wet market is fresh.
- Clean it correctly to avoid the Tilapia to have an unpleasant smell and taste when cooking.
- You could marinate the Tilapia using a squeezed lemon juice or lime to make the dish tastier.
- You could also add the lemon or lime juice to the ingredients you would use to stuff the Tilapia.
- You could also use banana leaves as a wrapper instead of aluminum foil to add more aroma.
- You could also serve the dish with light soup dishes since it has no sauce.
- There are many ways to cook the featured dish. You could choose in different ways, which makes it convenient when you are recreating the dish.
- You have to double wrap the Tilapia to avoid leaking out of its juices.
Troubleshooting
When you recreate a dish, errors are vital. Therefore, saving is the only option you have. That is why we look for some possible solutions you could do about the dish.
- If you accidentally burnt the Tilapia, chopped some parsley. It would help you to neutralize the burnt flavor of the dish.
- If the Tilapia comes out very dry, brush all the sides equally with lemon juice and butter. Lemon helps to hold it together, and butter would make the dish moist again.
Best Serve With
Tilapia dishes like Pinaputok na Tilapia would stand out along with the other dishes highlighting their taste and authenticity. We look for those dishes to complement the featured dish.
- Rice- is plain white rice served hot along with our menu. It highlights the dish's taste and flavors from all the spices put in it.
- Java Rice- is one of the rice dishes which is perfect for the Tilapia dish featured here.
- Coke and Sprite- are common drinks served along with the Tilapia dish featured here.
- Pineapple Juice- is an incredible drink to serve along with the famous Pinaputok dish.
- Drop soup- is a tasty soup dish perfect for serving with the featured dish during lunch or dinner.
- Crab and corn soup- is one of the dishes perfect for the humble dish.
- Spicy vinegar - is a sauce that gives a kick to the dish when you dip our menu in it.
- Spicy Toyo and calamansi - is one of the popular sauces perfect to partner with the featured Pinaputok dish.
- Pinakbet - is one of the most common vegetable dishes served with tilapia dishes.
- Ginisang munggo- is another savory dish that is perfect for serving with our dish.
- Chopsuey - is a popular dish served on many occasions with Tilapia dishes. Therefore this dish is perfect for our menu.
- Ginisang sayote- is another vegetable dish that tastes aline with the featured dish taste and flavors.
- Creamy mixed vegetables- is one dish you would love to serve along with the featured Tilapia dish.
- Banana Pudding- is an amazing dessert that would highlight the taste of the featured Tilapia dish.
- Ginataang Puso ng Saging is one of the perfect dishes to serve with the featured Tilapia dish.
Conclusion
The Pinaputok na Tilapia dish is an authentic dish you could serve as the main dish or appetizer on any occasion and season.
If you are looking for some ways to cook Tilapia, you have to try this Filipino Pinaputok dish. It is very easy to create and prepare yet delivers tons of wonderful flavors.
The Tilapia is tasty and plum with juicy roasted onions and tomatoes, which adds another layer of delicious flavors. This meal makes you feel good to serve with your whole family! It is not only delicious but is also nutritious and healthy.
Do you want more easy Tilapia dish recipes? Try to visit our website www.eatlikepinoy.com for more delicious and amazing recipes to recreate.
Recipe
Best Pinaputok Na Tilapia Recipe
Equipment
- Baking tray
- Aluminum foil
Ingredients
- 4 pcs Tilapia cleaned and belly sliced
- 4 pcs Tomatoes big. 2 pcs cut into cubes/2 pcs cut into rounds
- 2 pcs Onion 1 pc cut into rounds/1 pc cut into cubes
- 2 thumbs Ginger 1 thumb sliced thinly/1 thumb cut into small cubes
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Ground black pepper
Instructions
- Stuff the 2 pcs cubes of tomato, onion, and ginger into 4 tilapia bellies.
- Place tilapia onto aluminum foil and top each tilapia with the remaining tomato, onion, and ginger.
- Make sure to rub the tilapia fish with salt and ground black pepper.
- Wrap the tilapia in an aluminum foil. Make sure that everything is covered.
- Transfer all tilapia onto the baking tray.
- Heat oven for 170 degrees F.
- Bake the fish for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes remove tilapia from the oven.
- Serve hot and enjoy!
