Cook’s notes

There’s white escabeche and there’s red escabeche. I prefer the red version not just for the color but because the cooking method makes more sense to me.

To cook white escabeche, the fish is marinated in the sweet sour achara pickling solution (or a mixture of something similar), drained and fried. To serve, the fish is placed on a platter and garnished with achara (vegetables and brine).

I like my escabeche fried to a crisp. And frying fish that had been marinated in vinegar and sugar (both are ingredients of achara pickling solution) can be problematic.

Vinegar changes the texture of the fish flesh making it more chewy.
Traces of sugar on the fish skin can easily burn during frying and that ruins the flavor of the fish.

So, I stick to red escabeche.

Tilapia is not the only fish you can use. Any firm and fleshy fish is good. If you’d rather not deal with a whole fish (I understand that preparation can be a real challenge), it is alright to use fillets.

Tilapia escabeche

Prep: 15

Cook: 20

Marinating 2

Total: 2 35

Servings: 4 people

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Modern Filipino

Label: Tilapia, Whole fish

Print recipe Subscribe

Ingredients

2 whole tilapia (about 1.2 kilograms / 2.6 pounds total weight) cleaned and gutted
2 tablespoons rock salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic peeled and lightly pounded
2 one-inch knobs ginger peeled and lightly pounded
2 stalks lemongrass (lower off-white portion only) lightly pounded

Sweet sour sauce

¼ cup vinegar
½ cup white sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch dispersed in two tablespoons water

Vegetable topping

1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 clove garlic peeled and minced
1 one-inch knob ginger peeled and minced
1 stalk lemongrass (lower off-white portion only) peeled and thinly sliced
1 onion peeled and thinly sliced
1 small carrot peeled and julienned
1 bell pepper deseeded and julienned

For frying

2 teaspoons cornstarch
cooking oil

Instructions

Season the fish

Rinse the tilapia and pat dry with paper towels.
Score both sides of the fish.
Rub the salt and pepper evenly over the entire surface of both fish.
Divide the lemongrass, garlic and ginger into two portions, and use one portion to stuff the cavity of each fish.
Place the fish in a covered container and leave to marinate in the fridge for two hours.

Make the sweet sour sauce

Stir the vinegar, sugar, salt and tomato sauce in a sauce pan.
Heat the mixture, stirring often, until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Pour in the starch solution and cook, stirring, until the sauce is thick and no longer cloudy.

Cook the vegetables

Heat a tablespoon of cooking oil in a frying pan.
Saute the reserved portion of the sliced lemongrass, garlic and ginger until aromatic.
Add the onion, carrot and bell pepper.
Cook the vegetables just until done. Scoop out and set aside.

Fry the tilapia

Take the fish out of the fridge and dry with paper towels once more.
In a thick-bottomed frying pan, heat enough cooking oil to reach a depth of two inches.
Lightly coat the tilapia with cornstarch; shake off the excess.
Fry the tilapia, in batches if your frying pan is on the small side, turning the fish over for even cooking, until golden and crisp.