I've played around with this recipe a lot. Since I took wheat out of my diet, I could no longer use the traditional dredging ingredients of flour or bread crumbs, and so I found that soy flour worked pretty well. Panko bread crumbs with this dish would be awesome and I might someday take the risk of a bad night by making this recipe with it. But for now, this is the state in which I have kept this dish, made several times, and a hit every time. My flourless spinach souffle is a great accompaniment to this dish. Click here to go to it.
Tilapia is a fish I never heard of until just a few years ago, and now I see it everywhere. That's because of their large size, rapid growth, and palatability, a number of Tilapia species have been the focus of major aquaculture efforts, and today, it is the fifth most popular seafood consumed in the United States. I have tried this dish with more expensive kinds of fish, including Red Snapper and Dover Sole. Sole didn't work so well because it has a more delicate meat that didn't hold up well to the frying technique this recipe requires. Snapper worked very well and was very good, but honestly, for the difference in price between Snapper and Tilapia, the difference in flavor isn't all that acute. If it were free of charge and given a choice, I would use Snapper just because of its subtle buttery flavor ever-so-slightly trumps Tilapia. But that's like saying platinum trumps gold. You would be happy with either.
Now, about the capers: a lot of people don't even know what they are let alone how to cook with them. Capers are the unripened flower buds of capparis spinosa, otherwise known as a caper bush. It is a prickly, perennial plant which is native to the Mediterranean and some parts of Asia. Non-pareil are the smallest type of caper and are reputed to be the best. The name non-pareil means "without equal." I use Crosse & Blackwell non-pareil because they're available at my neighborhood grocer and damn fine capers. Click here if you want to learn more about this brand. I suppose there are other equally good brands; you'll have to do your own research on that.
Ingredients
For the sauce
2 sticks butter
1 large shallot, finely chopped
¼ cup white wine
¼ cup white wine vinegar
1 small jar non-pareil capers (like, Crosse & Blackwell)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 egg yolk
Ingredients
For the seasoning mix
2-½ tbsp paprika
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme
Ingredients
For the Tilapia
4 Tilapia fillets, about a pound
½ stick butter
3 tbsp peanut oil
1 cup soy flour
½ cup seasoning mix
The Recipes
Make the seasoning mix first:
Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and use a whisk to ensure all is incorporated into an evenly distributed mixture. This can be put in a air tight container or zip-lock bag and held. Yes, this is Emeril Lagasse's famous "Essence" but mine is made fresh and doesn't support Emeril's retirement fund.
Then, start the sauce:
Dice shallots finely and place in a sauce pan with the white wine and vinegar. Reduce until you have about two tablespoons of liquid. Drain capers from their liquid. Add 2 sticks of butter to the sauce pan and melt. Bring the butter to a simmer to boil off its remaining water content, then add the cream. Reduce to under a simmer after a few minutes.
Now, the main event:
Combine 3-4 heaping tablespoons of the seasoning mixture with the flour and whisk to evenly distribute the ingredients. Dredge the Tilapia fillets in the soy flour and seasoning mixture. Let them rest for a minute or two on paper plates, but do not stack them on top of one another. Place ½ stick butter and the peanut oil in a cast iron skillet and heat to the smoking point. Place the fish fillets into the oil. Cook until browned 4-5 minutes, carefully turn, and cook another 3-4 minutes. Remove to paper towels while you finish the sauce.
Finish the sauce:
At the last minute before serving the fish, slightly cool ½ teaspoon of the butter and cream mixture, and slowly pour into a bowl containing the egg yolk while whisking rapidly. Repeat two or three times being careful that the butter does not begin to cook or scramble the yolk. The idea is to bring the yolk up to a temperature so it will not cook the moment you put it into the sauce. This is a technique called "tempering."
Once you have done this, pour the tempered yolk back into the sauce pan containing the butter and cream mixture while whisking briskly, being careful not to allow the sauce to boil. Done correctly, the sauce will thicken to a creamy consistency. Done incorrectly and the sauce will "break" meaning that the little bits of yolk cook into small strands, making for a distracting and less visually appealing sauce. If this happens, however, don't freak out. You'll have a slightly runnier sauce, but the flavor will still be okay. Spoon it over the fish and pretend that's exactly the way you intended to serve it.
Again, finishing the sauce is to be done at the very last second, right before serving the fish. After you have added the egg yolk and thickened the sauce, add the drained capers at the last minute, and wait a few moments so the capers heat through. Spoon the caper butter over or around the pan fried Tilapia and serve with the flourless spinach souffle.
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