How to Cook Braised Tilapia Deliciously? A Detailed Guide to the Home-Style Recipe
Tilapia is also known as African crucian carp, Nile tilapia, Vietnamese fish, Nanyang crucian carp and so on. It originally referred to fish species of the genus Oreochromis with Mozambique as the type locality, and now it is a common name for several species of fish in the family Cichlidae, including the genera Oreochromis and Sarotherodon. Its flesh is tender and fine, and it tastes excellent whether braised or cooked plainly. Let's take a look together at the home-style way to make braised tilapia!
Ingredients for Braised Tilapia
1 tilapia (about 600 grams), 1/2 red chili pepper, 3 scallions, 1 small piece of ginger, 3 cloves of garlic, 30 grams of cooking oil, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, 2 teaspoons of cooking wine, 1 teaspoon of pepper powder, 1 teaspoon of refined salt, 1/2 teaspoon of white sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate.
How to Make Braised Tilapia
1. Clean the tilapia thoroughly and make 3 diagonal cuts on each side of the fish body.
2. Wash the scallions and cut into sections; wash the ginger, garlic and red chili pepper and slice.
3. Add oil to the pan, heat it up, and fry the fish until both sides are golden brown, then remove.
4. Leave a small amount of oil in the pan, sauté the scallions, ginger, garlic and chili pepper until fragrant, then add soy sauce, cooking wine, sugar, pepper powder, salt, monosodium glutamate and water and bring to a boil.
5. Add the fried tilapia, simmer over low heat until the flavors are absorbed, then remove and plate. Reduce the remaining sauce until thick, drizzle with sesame oil and pour over the fish.
The Benefits of Braised Tilapia
1. Tilapia has a high protein content and is rich in a variety of essential amino acids needed by the human body, among which glutamic acid and glycine are especially high. Its essential amino acid composition is balanced and abundant, making it a high-quality high-protein product. Compared with meat protein, fish protein is easier for the human body to digest and absorb, and the nutrients taken in are fully utilized without waste.
2. Tilapia has a high retinol content. Retinol helps prevent and treat night blindness and vision loss, helps treat various eye diseases, maintains the normal function of the immune system, removes age spots, promotes development, strengthens bones, maintains the health of skin, hair, teeth and gums, and has an effect against respiratory infections.
3. The taurine content of tilapia is as high as 210-220 mg/100 g. Taurine is comparable to EPA and DHA and can help lower cholesterol and neutral fat in the blood, regulate blood pressure, strengthen liver function, promote insulin secretion, promote retinal development, and help restore vision. The taurine content in livestock meat is very low; for example, beef contains only 32 mg/100 g, and chicken contains none at all.
4. Tilapia is rich in unsaturated fat. The unsaturated fatty acid content in tilapia muscle is about 54-58%, and it also contains a certain amount of DHA and EPA. A large number of studies have shown that DHA and EPA help the development of the human brain and vision, help maintain human health and prevent many diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, high blood lipids, arthritis, stroke and skin diseases.
5. Tilapia is rich in selenium. Selenium is an indispensable element for heart metabolism and has a strong antioxidant effect, 50-100 times that of vitamin E, and has a strong anti-aging and anti-cancer effect.
6. Tilapia also contains vitamin E, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and the minerals potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc, copper and so on, which are indispensable trace elements for maintaining normal physiological health.