oneblondechef

Tea meets Tilapia- An Exotica Fish Dish

For me, cooking is simply and experiment.  It’s about knowing a few ingredients, taking a chance and sometimes coming up with the most delicious invention.

This recipe is officially the product of something gone really right!

As you all know I work at DAVIDsTEA and have used the tea with a few other recipes.  It seems to be a common pantry item for me, so this won’t be the last time you will see it in my blog.  This tea, Exotica, is super affordable ($13.00/100g = 50 cups) and upon first “whiff”, if you will, reminds me of Vietnamese food.  It contains everything from dried Pineapple to coconut to red peppercorns to cloves that have all been tied together with a classic base of lemongrass.  Yum right!?!?  Check out how beautiful this tea really is!

This tea instantly reminded me of a sizzling fish dish that I would get in Melbourne and that lead me to this delicious recipe.  Try it for yourself and tell me how you go!

For the Fish you will need:

• 10g DAVIDsTEA Exotica Tea
• 2 cups boiling water
• Infuser or strainer (essentially a tool to seperate the tea and the leaves)
• Fresh Tilapia Fish -any mild tasting White Fish could do here!
• 1 large red onion, finely sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 tbsp soya sauce
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• lots of fresh dill
• salt and pepper

How to make this dish:

1. In a small bowl or mug use your infuser to steep your tea for approximately 5 minutes.  If you are not using an infuser, just add the tea to the water and then after 5 minutes strain out all the tea.
2. In a large oven safe skillet heat up a small amount of olive oil, and add your onions.  Let the onion go slightly translucent in colour.  Now add your garlic and stir once.  When you can smell the garlic and onions add your fish first.  Then pour over your tea, your soya sauce and a pinch of salt and pepper.
3. Flip the fish once and then add your lemon juice.  Let it cook on the stove top for about another 2 minutes and then pop the fish in a 350 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes monitoring it about every 5 minutes.
4. Once the fish is fully cooked, but still bright white, light and fluffy take it out of the oven and add your chopped dill with another little pinch of pepper.

Serve with sauteed Bok Choy, green beans and Delicious Coconut Rice!

This dish is now a roomate favorite!  It’s simple, it’s cheap and it’s completely caffine-free!  You are getting all the benefits like awesome Antioxidants from things like the lemongrass and pineapple, but you are enjoying the flavour of a light and healthy dinner.

Try it yourself!  Check out some other teas too and try it in some of your own recipes.  Remember cooking is about trying new things and not being afraid of your ingredients!

And at the end of the day it really comes down to Savouring your experience!!!