If you are looking for a quick evening meal packed with flavor, you've found it.
A blend of Chinese five-spice powder, soy sauce and brown sugar make a quick glaze for tilapia, leaving you with sugar-coated crusted piece of fish....it's delightful!
Five-spice powder is a blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, star anise and Szechuan peppercorns and is available in all grocery stores in the spice aisle.
Already full of flavor, slip this piece of fish between a toasted-buttered bun for an incredible fish sandwich, you won't be disappointed.
Five-Spice Tilapia
From Eating Well
1 pound tilapia fillets
1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder, or enough to cover fish
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
1 Tablespoon canola oil
3 scallions, thinly sliced
Sprinkle both sides of tilapia fillets with five-spice powder. Combine soy sauce and brown sugar in a small bowl.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tilapia and cook until the outer edges are opaque, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, turn the fish over, stir the soy sauce mixture and pour over the fish and into the pan. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook until the fish is cooked through and the sauce has thickened slightly (make sure not caramelize sugar), about 2 minutes more. Add the scallions and remove from the heat.
Serve the fish drizzled with the pan sauce.
To make this dish for two, halve all ingredients (use 2 scallions) and prepare as directed.
Cathy is currently in the development stages of her vineyard and winery in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. She is a food writer for Davis Life Magazine and blogs daily about wine, food and everyday living. She lives with her husband and two sons. You can visit her at noblepig.com.