A delicious oven baked tilapia. Mostly enjoyed with kenkey, blended paper and tomato sauce with shito (black spicy sauce) on the side.
Ingredients:
2 whole tilapia
5 cups water (to soak the fish)
2 tbsp salt (to soak the fish)
2 tbsp ginger paste
3 cloves garlic
1 small size onion
2-3 scallions
⅓ bunch cilantro
½ cup oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
How to prepare it:
Clean the fish by cutting the belly out and scoop everything out of the belly. Rinse the stomach with fresh water. Then cut all the fins and the tail. Make 3 deep cuts on both sides. Do not cut all the way through when making the deep cuts.
Put the fish in a large bowl, add 5 cups of water and 2 tbsp salt. Soak the fish in the salt water for 20 minutes.
While the fish soaks, blend the ginger, garlic, onion, scallions and cilantro WITH ½ cup of oil. Do not blend this with water but only oil. Then add the paprika and stir. Set this on the side. This will be used to marinate the fish.
After the fish has soaked for 20 minutes, take them out and place them in a clean bowl. Do not rinse the fish, just pat them dry with a paper towel.
Massage and coat the fish with the blended seasoning. Make sure to shove some of the marinade inside the belly of the fish and also in the deep cuts.
Cover with a plastic wrap and allow this to marinade for at least 30 minutes. It’s even better if this marinade overnight in the refrigerator.
After 30 minutes or the next day, place a rack inside a baking pan, then place the marinaded fish on the rack.
Place the remaining marinade or seasoning on the fish.
Tip: If this was marinade overnight in the refrigerator, allow it to come to a room temperature (about 30 minutes) before baking the fish.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 45 minutes to an hour.
Take it out and let it cool for 10 minutes. Enjoy!
