To braise means to cook in a little sauce that gets absorbed by the seafood or meat turning it highly flavorful. In Asia, the sauce in which fish, chicken or meat is braised is always supplemented with herbs, spices and aromatics. So, basically, you put some sauce in the pan, you add the herbs, spices and aromatics, you add the fish, chicken or meat, you cover the pan and leave everything to simmer.
It’s so simple, one wonders why not many people take advantage of the braising method of cooking. Take this tilapia dish, for instance, all I had to do was prepare the sauce, score the fish, put sauce and fish in a wide shallow pan and add ginger. Then, I went back to reading my book for 30 minutes. After that, I transferred the fish to a platter, poured some sauce over it and added some greens and chopped chilis. And it was delicious.
One thing I must emphasize though is never to underestimate the importance of the garnish in this dish. The greens and chopped chilis do make the otherwise drab looking tilapia festive and cheery but they do more than make the fish look pretty. You have to enjoy the fish together with the greens and the chopped chilis. You just have to.
This recipe is good for 2 people.
Ingredients
1 whole tilapia, about 600 grams, scaled and guts removed
3 tbsps. of rice vinegar
3 tbsps. of patis (fish sauce)
3 tbsps. of honey
4 slices of ginger
To garnish
a handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
4 stalks of onion leaves, cut into 1-inch lengths then finely sliced vertically
2 red chilis, finely chopped or sliced
Score the fish diagonally on both sides — twice on each side if the fish is rather large.
In a pan that can hold the fish, mix together the rice vinegar, honey and patis. If your pan is large and the sauce is less than 1/4-inch deep, add a little water. Bring to the boil then add the fish and sliced ginger. Cover and cook over very low heat for 20 to 30 minutes. Do not be tempted to remove the cover and peek while the fish cooks. The fish is meant to cook in the little sauce and its own juices and you really don’t want any of it evaporating needlessly.
When the fish is done, use a large spatula to transfer it to a serving platter. Pour the remaining sauce over, discarding the ginger. Scatter the onion leaves and cilantro over the fish, sprinkle with red chilis and serve at once.
My daughters love tilapia but I always just fry them. I will surely try this, thanks for sharing. Ms. Connie, this sounds like escabeche or something isn”?t it?
Hmmm… mukhang kulay Pasko a yata ang iyong Tilapia, Connie!!! Masaya!
RobKSA, well, sort of, but not really anything like the traditional CHinese sweet and sour fish which is fried. And the cilantro — ah, that makes all the difference.
Crisma, masarap!!! hahaha
Hi Connie! This recipe looks healthy and yummy! Would you braise fillets of fish? Or would the absence of bones take away from the flavours of this dish?
Cheers,
Charmaine
Charmaine, I have braised fillets of fish. Very convenient baon for my kids.
hmmm, so no need to turn the other side? will it cook evenly? kailangan babad talaga yung buong isda, ayt? thanks for sharing this one!!
Hi Ms. Connie,
What can i substitute for rice vinegar…will ordinary vinegar do? I would really love to try this recipe. Many thanks.
Ay, it won’t taste the same but if you use ordinary vinegar which has a stronger taste, just use less.
HI Ms Connie,
My hubby said “‘bb sumasarap ka na magluto”.. heehe thanks again for all the wonderful recipes. I posted pictures of the meals i’ve served (sop far) in my flickr account. I must say i have to work on my photography skiils next. 
We had this last night. YUmmy! And you are right, you have to eat it with the greens for added zing
Hi again Ms. Connie,
Thanks for the recipes… We had this last night and it was really good. Just added some ingredients. I added asparagus, kasabay nung fish, ginger, a little salt and pepper about 2 stems of spring onions. =)
Braising requires that you brown the meat to give it color and flavor before simmering in the sauce…
Searing is sometimes done but it does not define braising as a procedure. Wish you’d read up first.
Hello! there…I’m always surfing your site and I got the chance to cook it today…
Super sarap daw, sabi ng mga jurado dito sa bahay…Kahit di sila marunong magluto ay automatic na silang nagsalita sa akin na masarap ngayon ang LUTO mo ah…
Thanks for sharing…
That’s nice hehe
hi, Con. How long would the cooking time be if we use fillets? Thanks!
About 15 to 20 minutes, I think. It really depends on the thickness of the fillets.
I did it for 20 minutes, DELICIOUS! thanks very much!
Oooh, that is so good to know. Glad you liked it.
whats makes the sauce red in your braised tilapia? will I not flip over the fish while cooking? thanks
A little annatto powder. No need to flip.