Crispy Fried Pla-Pla, Tilapia

 

Crispy Fried Pla-Pla, Tilapia. I bought a large frozen tilapia at my favorite Pinoy store the other day , I was fascinated by the size of the fish. It’s been ages since I last seen tilapia this size, we Pinoys call these extra-large tilapia “pla-pla”. There was a time in the early 80’s that pla-pla were so popular that a lot of tilapia cooking method was invented.

The most popular was the pinaputok na tilapia, okey I am not cooking pinaputok na pla-pla, I don’t have the extra large frying pan for this fish. Instead I am sharing a crispy fried fish, I am not frying the fish as a whole I don’t have the big pan remember. To make my crispy fried fish I have to cut the fish in to fillet and into serving pieces. I also included the fish head, bones and tail for presentation. For added crispiness I dusted the fish with cornstarch before frying. Here is the recipe of my crispy fried pla-pla.

   

Ingredients:

1 large size tilapia, pla-pla

cornstarch

salt and pepper

cooking oil

spring onion for garnish

Cooking procedure:

Remove scales and innards of the fish, wash and drain. Prepare fish into fillet, cut into manageable size the fish head, bones and tail, cut the fish fillet into serving pieces. Dust the fish fillet, head, bones and tail with salt and pepper to taste dredge with cornstrach and remove excess. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes. Heat generous amount of cooking oil in a deep frying pan until it start to smoke, reduce heat to moderate. Fry the fish fillet including the fish head, bones and tail in batches for 3 to 5 minutes or until crisp and golden brown, drain fried fish in kitchen papers. In a big platter assemble the fish head, bones and tail and place the fried fish fillet over the bones to mimic the actual fish. Garnish with chopped spring onion and serve with your favourite dipping sauce.

See other Fried Fish recipes; 

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