I spent 6 years of my childhood living in North Platte, Nebraska during the 70’s when the local census guy officially determined there were 4 Asians living in the town – me, my brother, mom and dad. Really. Like tax dollars could have been spent on something more useful, like building a cultural center to attract more than just red necks to the town. So, what did the 4 Asian people in the town do for fun? Going cow tipping just seemed so useless to us, plus my parents didn’t let me drink beer until I was 8. (that was a joke, Ma) We went fishing almost every weekend in the summertime. We caught Yellow Perch, Crawfish, Striped Bass, Walleye, Bluegill, and Northern Pike (my parents have a dead, stuffed 5 ft Northern Pike hanging above their 60
We ate fish stew, steamed fish, baked fish, fish curry, fish balls, fried fish, fish lollipop on a chopstick… anything you could imagine. Despite eating all my Mom’s variations of fish dishes, I still love fish. My two toddlers love fish. My husband….not so much. So it was a challenge to come up with a non-fishy fish dish non-fishy fish dish non-fishy fish dish non-fishy fish dish non-fishy fish dish hee hee! that my husband would like. I’m also cooking for a family who doesn’t eat fish. Their Mom just asked if I could make a non-fishy fish dish for her 3 girls to try. So I needed something mild, and to totally disguise the fish so that it looked like chicken. But just because my husband can be easily tricked, the 3 girls wouldn’t be. I needed something sweet to coat the fish too. The result was scrumptious. My husband actually liked it! I’ll let you know next week if the 3 girls like it too. (for the family, I’ll be substituting Blue Agave for the honey since they are on a no-sugar diet)
Pecan Crusted Tilapia with Honey Glaze
Ingredients
- 4 whole Tilapia fillets, cut in half lengthwise - you should have 8 pieces about 6" x 2.5" each
- 3 T organic honey
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs (or Gluten free breadcrumbs)
- 1/2 cup crushed pecans (I used a mini food processor)
- salt & pepper
- 3 eggs, beaten in bowl
Honey Glaze:
- 3 T organic honey mixed with 2 T hot water
- 3 T olive oil, for frying
Instructions
- Wash Tilapia and pat dry. Using a brush, brush both sides of the fillet with honey. Generously salt & pepper both sides of the fillet.
- Combine the Panko and crushed Pecans. Lay out your ingredients in this order: Tilapia - Egg mixture - Panko/Pecan Dip the fish in the egg, coat with panko/pecan on both sides, set aside. Repeat with all fillets.
- Heat a large fry pan over medium heat. Add olive oil. When the oil is hot, turn the heat down to low. Add the fillets to the pan, make sure the fillets don't touch each other. You may have to do this in separate batches. Fry on low for 2 minutes until the underside is golden brown. Turn. Fry another 2 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Pour the honey glaze over the fish. Note: if you don't fry on low heat, the panko/pecan coating will burn before the fish is cooked through.
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I loved this recipe! I cheated a little bit and didn’t use much oil to fry it and poured a tiny bit of glaze on while it was cooking so the topping would stick. The additional glaze wasn’t needed afterward! It turned out great and was served on a bed of sauteed broccoli. 🙂
Do you think using this recipe with rockfish instead of tilapia would be just as good?
Yes, I’m sure it would be perfect
I am wanting to make this dish with the pasta but I don’t’ see the recipe for the pasta would you please share! To me it doesn’t look like just pasta I see some other yummy things in there.
Thanks
I think it was just homemade pasta tossed with sauteed garlic, tomatoes, zucchini….honestly I can’t remember! 😉
I recently discovered your website and I must say, your recipes look so yummy and beautiful! I must try this one as tilapia is my favorite fish, but I’ve only ever cooked it the Chinese steamed way. Thanks for your wonderful website!
P.S. I grew up as the only Chinese girl in my county! Pretty much everybody else was white. :-O
This fish is just fabulous! I used regular breadcrumbs and honey, and it comes out perfect every time! My husband likes it because the crunchy pecans disguise the fishy texture. Absolutely delicious!
Made this tonight! Boy, was it delicious. Just the right way to flavor the normally plain tilapia. But it got me to realize that tilapia has a wonderful texture. And I loved the crushed pecan crunchiness. Instead of panko, I crushed corn flakes to be gluten-free, and it was still delicious. Thanks
Jaden this fish is amazing! I made it tonight and my whole family LOVED it! I posted the recipe and pictures along with links back to your blog (if that’s okay)…EVERYONE should try this fish!!
Kim- I am so happy you guys loved it!
i made this last night – it was delicious and a HUGE hit. i was worried that the fish might be a bit too oily from the pan frying, but it wasn’t at all! in all of my excitement, i misread the recipe and ended up diluting the honey with the water and spreading that on the fish and didn’t do the final glazing at all and it was (still) delicious. for people who are tenuous about honey, i’d suggest this as an alternative.
this is my first time using a recipe from your blog, but i will DEFINITELY be back. thanks!!
Wow, I so envy you, abundance of fish growing up 🙂 hehe, chicken of the sea burgers, they looked delicious, and I love the panko breading 🙂
Passionate Eater – Its amazing the experiences we went through as asian kids, huh? It was a tough life back in the 70’s in the midwest! I’ll let you know if the girls like it or not.
That is so interesting that your family was the only Asian family in the town. I had a similar experience, except my family were the only Asians within our town and a 50 mile radius all the way around our town!! And I think the girls would be tricked, because you’ve made the fish fillets look good both to an adult and to a child. They look like breaded “chicken nuggets” to a kid, and like an elaborate and gourmet Asian-fusion style fish to an adult like me!
Tigerfish,
I think the panko needs oil or butter to brown -therefore in the oven it might not work well. Thats why when you bread chicken or any other meat, you fry first to brown the crust (flavor + makes it stick better) and then stick it in the oven.
I tried the panko version on fish fillets before but I baked t and it was not so successful.
Oh, the pecan crust looks so crumbly. I can imagine that nutty flavor on those fish fillets