The Fatty Kid: Soy Scallion and Ginger Dressing on Fresh Tilapia FiIlets

Filleting a fish is exceedingly difficult without a sharp knife! I plan on purchasing a sharp fillet knife for future filleting endeavors. Despite the arduous task (just kidding, it took 7 mins tops), the taste of a freshly filleted fish is beyond words. All I can say is go learn how to do it yourself and do it!
This dressing is fantastic on fish!!! The flavors are bright and exciting, perfect with the delicate texture of tilapia.

The best part is I braise the fish in the soy dressing for a bit before serving so the gingers get cooked and becomes extremely mild. Gingers was my least favorite thing to eat as a kid because of the sharp, stingy taste that overwhelms and becomes the predominate taste in my mouth, by julienning the ginger and cooking it in the pan, the sharpness mellows out more so its much more subtle in flavor.

Enough of me jibber jabbering.

Ingredients

Fresh Tilapia

Dressing:
1/4 Cup soy sauce ( I like to use Aloha Shoyu because it has a nice mild flavor that is not overly salty)
3 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar ( make sure its the unseasoned one)
2 Tablespoons Mirin
2 Tablespoon vegetable or canola oil (olive oil will impart a different flavor in the sauce so we want to avoid using that and still with more neutral oils for asian cooking)
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon sesame oil
1 Large clove garlic grated
2 Scallions slice on diagonal thinly ( both the white and green parts)
1/4 Cup julienned ginger

Directions:
Mix ingredients in a bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved
Get a hot pan, wait till oil is smoking before you put the fillet SKIN side down on the hot pan, cook until its browned.
Turn head down low and take pan off the burner when you pour the dressing into the pan. Flip the fillet so the raw side is now soaking in the dressing.
Place pan back on the heat and cook until fish is done. 2-3 mins depending on thickness of the fish.
Serve on a bed of rice and drizzle with warmed sauce.

Mix in ingredients for dressing in a bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves

Filleting fish is hard work but well worth the time! I purchased my fish fresh from 99 Ranch Market.

Two large fishes for 13.99! What a steal!

So the first fillet I did, I got a lot of bones in it because I didn't do it right. But after the first one I started getting the gist of it!

Not too shabby but a sharper knife would've made a huge difference!

and voila!

Don't worry about the skin, it'll come off when its cooked

Get a hot pan ( leave pan on stove with olive oil until it starts to smoke a bit)

Wait for the smoke!

Put fillets in skin side down. Don't worry about salting the fish because the fish will be braised in the soy sauce.

when edges gets 1/4 inch white, its time to flip!

Once this side is done which should take about a min, turn the heat down low and move the pan off the stove when you spoon the soy sauce into the pan. I poured half the sauce in.