Pan Fried Tilapia with Ginger and Soy Sauce Glaze

This recipe is a MUST try for all FISH LOVERS!! And talk about a fancy looking way to dress up an inexpensive fish! Every time I serve this, I get rave reviews before anyone even takes a bite! The presentation alone, is enough to want to make you want to dig in, HEAD FIRST.

The soy sauce glaze that goes on top of this fish is SO FINGER LICKIN' GOOD!! The addition of ginger and carrot slices, cooked in brown sugar, shallots, and garlic, make this sauce OUT OF THIS WORLD!


You will need:

1 whole tilapia(cleaned and patted dry)
salt and pepper
Wondra flour(or you may use corn starch or rice flour)
peanut oil

For the glaze:

1.5 ounce of ginger sliced into thin 2 inch strips(julienne).
1 small carrot cut into 2 inch strips.(I just used a julienne vegetable peeler to make the strips).
2 cloves of chopped garlic
2 T of finely chopped onion or shallot
1/2 cup water
1 T of soy sauce
1 T of hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp of salt
2 T of brown sugar
1/8 tsp of black pepper
some cornstarch mixed with a little bit of water
peanut oil

Garnishes:

thinly sliced onion
green onion
cilantro or parsley

Chop up your garlic and onion and set aside. Next, slice your ginger and carrots into thin 2 inch strips. I have an awesome stainless steel julienne peeler that I purchased through Amazon that I used.

Clean your fish thoroughly and pat dry. Make three diagonal slashes on each side of the fish. Season lightly with salt and pepper and then coat your fish in wondra flour. If you don't have any wondra flour you may use cornstarch instead.

Heat a large skillet/wok on medium-medium high heat and put enough oil to submerge half of the fish. Fry until crispy/golden brown about 6-7 minutes depending on how large your fish is. Flip your fish and continue to fry for another 5 minutes or so. Remove and place fish on platter.

In a small bowl mix together your water, soy sauce, salt, brown sugar, hoisin, and black pepper. Mix to combine and set aside.

On medium high heat add some oil into a saucepan and add in your chopped onion. Cook until translucent. Add in your ginger, carrots, and garlic. Cook until fragrant and until everything has softened.

Add in your soy sauce mixture and cook on medium high heat for about 2-3 minutes tops. Take some cornstarch(about 1 tsp)and mix it with a bit of water. Add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan and stir to combine. Turn off heat and your glaze is ready!! You may up the cornstarch mixture if you prefer a thicker glaze.

Pour your glaze over your fish while it's still warm and serve immediately!! Garnish with thinly sliced onions, scallions, parsley, or cilantro!

Watch how to make it here.