A while ago I made a tom yum goong or a Thai hot and sour soup with prawns that I really enjoyed. I made the tom yum soup from scratch but you can buy the hot and soup flavouring as a pre-made paste for quick tom yum soups. Once the tom yum is in a paste form it opens the doors for many other applications including this tom yum grilled tilapia that that I found on About:com: Thai Food . I liked the sound of using the tom yum flavours in something other than a soup and I was in the mood for some Thai! The original recipe called for grilling the fish but I have been enjoying baking fish lately so I decided to cook it that way instead. The recipe is pretty easy; you simply process all of the tom yum paste ingredients in a food processor, marinate the fish and bake. The recipe suggested saving part of the tom yum paste and simmering it in some coconut milk to serve as a dip for the fish but I thought that it would just be easier to pour it over the fish when it was done baking. The tom yum baked tilapia turned out really well! The fish was nice and moist and tender and covered in the amazing tom yum flavours. I really like the combo of hot and sour in this tom yum paste and I am especially fond of all of the fresh herbs which really brightened up the meal. (You can easily control the amount of heat in this dish by using milder or less chilies or more chilies if you like it hotter.) The coconut to yum sauce completed the meal perfectly. Continuing with the coconut theme I served the tom yum tilapia with some coconut jasmine rice topped with some toasted coconut flakes.
Tom Yum Baked Fish
ingredients
- 2 stalks lemongrass (peeled and chopped, or lemon zest or myrtle leaves)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 thumb sized piece galangal (or ginger, peeled and chopped)
- 1+ birds eye chili (or other hot chili or 1 teaspoon chili sauce, etc.)
- 1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)
- 1 lime (juice and zest)
- 2 green onions (sliced)
- 1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 tablespoons palm sugar (grated or sugar)
- 2 white fish fillets
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
directions
- Place the lemon grass, garlic, galangal, chili, cilantro, lime juice and zest, green onions, shrimp paste, fish sauce, oil and palm sugar in a foor processor and process.
- Marinate the fish in 3/4 of the paste for at least 10 minutes.
- Place the fish into a covered baking dish and bake in a preheated 350F/180C oven until cooked, about 10-12 minutes.
- Heat the coconut milk and the remaining paste in a small sauce pan and simmer for 1 minute.
- Serve the fish with the sauce on the side along with some rice.
This sounds absolutely delicious! I made a Thai fish curry with white fish and coconut milk awhile back that was similar and very good. The flavors really compliment the subtle flavour of tilapia.
What a great idea! I've made fried rice with tom yum paste before (highly recommended). I'd love to try this as well! Tilapia is on sale this week 🙂
My favorite fish!!! Will be trying this soon!!!
This sounds great! My homestay mother used to make Tom Yam Koong for me because it was my favorite – I only make it about once a year – ingredient thing. Now I have no excuse – I'll bet that paste would freeze beautifully. Thanks for another great one Kevin!
Talapia is one of the great fishes now. It's popping up everywhere. Sounds awesome. We could take this and a side of fluffy rice any day.
I have been making and eating Thai like crazy but this is a very cool idea I want to try. Thanks!
–Marc
That looks really delicious! A light, yet flavorful dish!
Cheers,
Rosa
This looks amazing!
What a great idea to use a whole fillet of fish like that. Great to break away from the bowl with the Tom Yum 🙂
Beautiful photo — mouth watering
We had lovely fish fillets last night and I have 2 fillets left…I think I know now what to do with them!!! Thx
wow!! this tilapia is a die for dish! love tom yum flavor especially kaffir lime and lemongrass!!
such a pretty dish!
This is a nice twist to my usual Tilapia.
is it quite easy for you to get tilapia at the fishmongers? i used to have a massive thing for tilapia because for a freshwater fish, it's tasty!! loving this dish kevin. x
Nothing healthier and tastioer than a thai cooked fish! I love mine steamed in particular 🙂
This sounds like coconut heaven! Thanks for the simple idea.
This dish includes all of the flavours I love and would be happy to make everyday. I can't wait to try this.
Thats funny, i just made a soup last night kind of like a fusion of Tom Yum , Tamarind, and Pho… guess i couldn't decide what kind i wanted… looks awesome!
Wow Kevin – it looks beautiful and tasty. I love all the flavors used.
I love Tilapia!! And this one makes it even better cos I love Tom Yum!
This sounds very delicious. You are such a talented cook!
This looks delicious! I usually buy catfish filets as I find tilapias a bit bland. But this looks delicious! Bookmarked.
I love Tom Yum soup, so having it's flavors on a fish is a no-brainer for me!
diva: Yes tilapia is usually plentiful at the fishmonger here in Toronto.
What a great way to incorporate the wonderful flavors of the soup into another dish!
This is such a great idea and tilapia lends itself perfectly. GREG
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I love Tom Yum soup and recently stalked the freezer with lots of fish. Adding this to my list of things to try!
Ohhh!!! What a great idea!! I love tom yum!