Steamed Fish

Last night, my father brought home a gigantic Tilapia that was given to him by a friend.  According to my mother, Tilapias are measured by fingers. She told me the size of the one I was challenged to cook was 8 - 9 fingers depending on the gender of the person who's measuring it. LOL.

Check at the scale of the extra large egg with the Tilapia below. Figure it out how big it was!

My father was requesting for a dish he sampled before where the fish was cooked with mayonnaise.  Since the Tilapia was big, I don't want to cut it out, so I prepared one where its size was preserved.

I checked one of my cookbooks and found a recipe for a steamed fish which I did revisions.  Here's how I cooked it.

1) I rubbed the cleaned tilapia  with butter, salt and pepper and put it on an aluminum foil.  I filled the inside with fresh basil and left a long stalk of celery on one side of the fish.

2) The wrapped tilapia was put in a steamer and was cooked under a simmering water for about 30 to 40 minutes.

3) I unwrapped the foil and preserved the drippings.   One square of chicken bouillon was dissolved to the preserved drippings and was cooked under low heat until it thickened a little.

4) The thickened drippings was poured over the tilapia that was transferred to a serving platter.  I made sure that the sauce was scattered evenly so the fish would absorb it equally.

5) I dressed the tilapia with mayonnaise leaving the head and tail still exposed.

6) Lastly, for the embellishments, I added chopped carrots, eggs and pickled relish.

The fish dish was delicious though it's somewhat "nakakaumay" because of the mayonnaise.  It was tasty though even without the toppings.  I know this recipe would work better with Lapu-lapu, Maya-maya or Talakitok.  Let's try it with Lapu-lapu next time. :)

Oh, by the way, here's an interesting note on the etymology of Tilapia from Wikipedia:

The common name tilapia is based on the name of the cichlid genus Tilapia, which is itself a latinization of thiape, the Tswana word for "fish".^[1] Scottish zoologist Andrew Smith named the genus in 1840.^[2]

Tilapia go by many names. The moniker "St. Peter's fish" comes from the story in the Christian Bible about the apostle Peter catching a fish that carried a shekelcoin in its mouth, though the passage does not name the fish.^[3] While the name also applies to Zeus faber, a marine fish not found in the area, a few tilapia species (Sarotherodon galilaeus galilaeus and others) are found in the Sea of Galilee, where the author of the Gospel of Matthew accounts the event took place. These species have been the target of small-scale artisanal fisheries in the area for thousands of years.^[4][5] In some Asian countries including the Philippines, large tilapia go bypla-pla while their smaller brethren are just tilapia.

So I guess the tilapia I have been talking about is actually a pla-pla.  :p