Adobong Tilapia

This Yummy Adobong Tilapia recipe is a delicious combination of fried fish and the ever popular sweet, salty, and savory adobo sauce. Start with a clean tilapia, seasoned with salt then fried. Ready to be simmered in a sauce made of ginger, garlic, onion, tomatoes, soy sauce, vinegar, whole peppercorns, dry bay leaves, red chillies, water, and some sugar. After being simmered together, the fishes are given a slight stir and basting before being garnished with spring onions before being served with rice on the side.

Adobong Tilapia Recipe :

Ingredients

• 1 kilo tilapia ( descaled and given shallow slits on both sides )
• Salt for seasoning
• 1 thumb-sized ginger ( sliced )
• 6 cloves garlic ( roughly chopped )
• 1 large onion ( sliced )
• 4 pieces tomatoes ( sliced )
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ⅓ cup vinegar
• 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
• Some dry bay leaves
• Red chillies
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon sugar ( optional )
• Oil for frying
• Spring onions ( chopped )

Steps:

1. Prepare the fishes by rubbing these with salt. Set aside for 10 minutes. Before frying in a pan at medium heat, with hot oil. Fry till both sides have browned. Set aside.
2. In another pan, add a bit of oil and saute ginger for a few minutes before adding the garlic, then onions, and tomatoes. Cook till these are soft enough to crush.
3. Add back the fried tilapia, pour in soy sauce, vinegar, peppercorns, bay leaves, chillies, and water. Cover and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes.
4. Give this a taste and add a bit of sugar at a time if needed. Coat the dish with the sauce, garnish with spring onions before serving.

How to Cook Adobong Tilapia

Or “Paano Magluto ng Adobong Tilapia” in Tagalog is a dish that’s a slightly healthier and quicker to cook version of the ever popular pork adobo or chicken adobo. Though fried, it’s still a great way to get all the fish-y nutrients Tilapia can provide with almost no amount of cholesterol, and more of the rich omega-3 fatty acids needed by the body to support and help the brain and eyes.

This dish sometimes called “Adobong Tilapia with Kamatis” is a dish made first by seasoning the tilapia that has been removed of its scales and given shallow slits on both sides to help it cook better and faster with some salt. This is set aside to give these some time to ‘marinade’. The fishes are then fried in hot oil, keeping the heat at medium. Let each side fry till it browns before flipping, once everything has browned take this out of the pan to rest. 

To make the sauce; use another pan and with a bit of oil, saute garlic for a few minutes before adding in the garlic and onions until they smell aromatic. Keep cooking until the tomatoes are soft enough to crush. Add in the fried tilapias, pour in the umami and savory flavors coming from soy sauce, tangy vinegar, earthy peppercorns and bay leaves, with a good amount of spice from the red chillies. Dilute everything with water, stir well before covering and bringing this into a boil. Simmer for a few minutes to help blend all the flavors together. Give this a taste and add some sugar if it tastes too salty or spicy, adding a bit at a time to avoid making this too sweet. Baste the fishes after these have been simmered to make sure that everything has been covered with the sauce. Top off with a good amount of chopped spring onions before serving with heaping cups of freshly cooked rice.

Learn more about Tilapia and its relevance in the Philippines in this Yummy Kitchen Article “What is Tilapia ?”.

Questions :

• Adobong Tilapia Calories

Per serving, it can have around 250 – 270 calories.

• Additional Adobong Tilapia Ingredients

What else can you add into this dish? For more fiber you can add leafy vegetables like malunggay, spinach, kangkong ( water spinach), other fillers such as mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, or even tofu. You can add anything into the soup base. Just make sure to cook any raw meats and saute harder vegetables first before adding back the fish to make sure these have cooked well.

Other Yummy Tilapia Recipes!

• Paksiw na Tilapia or “Adobong Paksiw na Tilapia” ( a meaty spicy sour stewed tilapia dish )
• Kinunot na Tilapia ( a Bicolano specialty, tilapia stewed in an aromatic coconut base )
• Sarciadong Tilapia ( a fried fish dish covered in a sauce made of tomatoes and eggs )
• Sinabawang Isda with Tilapia ( a “tilapia recipe with sabaw” or  “tilapia soup”, closely resembles the popular sinigang )
• Ginataang Tilapia Recipe ( Tilapia stewed in a spicy and very savory coconut sauce )

Adobong Tilapia Resipi: (Tagalog version)

Mga Sangkap :

• 1 kilo tilapia ( tinanggalan ng kaliskis, at binigyan ng mababaw na hiwa sa bawat panig )
• Asin pangtimpla
• 1 daliring luya ( hiniwa )
• 6 butil ng bawang ( tinadtad )
• 1 sibuyas ( hiniwa )
• 4 pirasong kamatis ( hiniwa )
• ¼ tasa soy sauce
• ⅓ tasa suka
• 1 kutsaritang buong paminta
• Mga daho ng laurel
• Pulang sili
• 1 tasa ng tubig
• 1 kutsarang asukal ( opsyonal )
• Mantika panprito
• Dahon ng sibuyas ( tinadtad )

Paano Lutuin :

1. Ihanda ang mga isda, kuskusin ang mga ito ng asin. Itabi ng 10 minuto bago iprito sa kawali na nasa mababang init. Kapag uminit na ang mantika, iprito ang mga isa hanggang mag kayumanggi ang bawat pantig nito. Itabi.
2. Sa ibang kawali, lagyan ng kanting pantika at lutuin ang mga luya ng ilang minuto bago haluan ng bawang, pagkatapos ang sibuyas, at haluan ng kamatis. Lutuin hanggang lumambot ang mga kamatis.
3. Isama ang prinitong tilapia at haluan ng soy sauce, suka, paminta, mga dahon ng laurel, sili, at tubig. Takpan at pakuluin ng 6 – 8 minuto.
4. Tikman at lagyan ng asukal kung kinakailangan. Takpan ang mga isda ng sarsa at dekorasyonan ng mga dahon ng sibuyas bago ihanda.