These unfilleted, whole grilled tilapia are marinated in a flavourful pepper, onion, ginger, and garlic mix and then grilled over coal until we have flaky and juicy perfection. This dish is very popular in Ghana and is a favourite among many - both locals and non-locals.
Grilled tilapia is common in Ghana and is mainly eaten with fresh ground pepper and banku, kenkey, akple, attieke or even fried yam or kelewele.
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Ingredients
Making sure to get good quality and fresh tilapia is crucial. If you aren't sure ask your vendor to help you. Your tilapia should not have dull eyes and the gills should be a bright red colour. There are differences in taste in tilapia depending on whether they were farmed or caught straight from the river. The best tilapia I have eaten was from my mother's hometown Ada - the tilapia here has a slightly earthy taste which lends a unique flavour to the fish.
Instructions
Clean the tilapia with water and some lemon or lime juice. The fish should have been descaled with gills and entrails removed.
Using a sharp knife, make two scores on each side of the tilapia.
This allows for the fish to cook faster especially when you have large fish. It also helps to hold some of the marinade in place.
Place the onions, ginger, pepper, garlic, oil, and salt in a blender.
Blend until smooth.
Spread the marinade all over the fish making sure to get some inside the fish as well as the scored areas.
Leave to marinate for at least 2 hours. These can also be marinated overnight.
Using a brush or some paper towels, brush the inner and outer grates of the fish grill baskets with some vegetable oil.
Place the tilapia into the fish grill baskets individually and fasten them so they don't fall out.
Grill the fish over moderate heat until the flesh is flaky and no longer opaque.
Variations
- No marinade - if your fish is very fresh you can get away with not marinating it. Simply clean and then grill and eat with your favourite accompaniments, sauces, and sides.
- Slightly cooked marinade - if you by all means want to avoid the freshness of the garlic and onions, you can slightly cook your marinade for a few minutes, letting it cool down and then marinating the tilapia with it.
Equipment
A standard grill or coalpot is what you need to be able to grill this incredible tilapia. Whenever you have the chance, choose coal over oven - the taste is just so much better.
You will also require some fish grill baskets - these keep the fish intact and make for easier grilling.
Storage
- Grilled tilapia made this way actually freezes quite well. Make sure to wrap it in an airtight container and freeze it. Once you're ready to eat, thaw the fish, wrap it in aluminium foil, and then heat gently in a preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the fish is thoroughly heated through. The aluminium foil prevents the fish from drying out.
- If you have any marinade left over you can also freeze that for later use.
Tip
Use some lime or lemon squeezed into water to clean the tilapia before slapping on the marinade.
FAQ
This simply means the heat is too much and the outer skin will burn before the fish is even cooked. A way to remedy this is to move the coal around and away from directly under the fish. Using a marinade that contains onions and garlic will also burn faster especially over high heat.
Related
Looking for other tasty Ghanaian recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are great with charcoal-grilled tilapia:
Charcoal Grilled Whole Tilapia Recipe
Equipment
- 3 fish grill baskets
Ingredients
- 3 medium- sized tilapia descaled and entrails removed
Marinade
- lemon or lime to wash the fish
- 5 small onions
- sea salt to taste
- 5 cloves garlic
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil approximately
- 5 ginger cubes (see note 5)
- 10 scotch bonnets or according to taste
Instructions
- Clean the tilapia with some water mixed with lemon or lime juice. See note 1.
- Score all the tilapia, twice on each side.
- Blend all the ingredients for the marinade.
- Spread the marinade all over the fish making sure to get some of the marniade into the stomach area, the bit around the head and the scores.
- Leave to marinate for at least 2 hours but ideally overnight in the fridge.
- Using a brush or a small piece of paper towel, brush the fish grill baskets with some oil. Brush the grill with some oil as well.
- Place the fish into the grill baskets and secure them so that they don't fall out. See note 2.
- Leave to come to room temperature and then grill over a moderately hot grill.
- Grill the tilapia over the charcoal making sure to turn regularly so that the fish cooks evenly. The fish is ready once it flakes off easily and is no longer opaque. See note 3.
- Leave the fish to cool before taking them out of the fish baskets. See note 4.
- Serve with banku, rice, akple, attieke, fried yam, or kenkey and shito or fresh ground pepper.
Notes
- Instead of rubbing lime or lemon directly on the fish, squeeze two limes or one lemon into about 1 liter of water and clean the fish with it.
- Depending on the size of your fish they may or may not completely fit. As long as you are able to secure them with the latch at the bottom they should not fall out.
- Depending on the temperature of your grill and the size of the fish, cooking times will vary. These tilapia were cooked within 30-40 minutes.
- Trying to force the fish out of the grill baskets before it has cooled may lead to the fish coming apart.
- Ginger cubes are simply blended ginger stems which are filled into ice cube trays and then frozen for later use. A full recipe can be found here.
Priscilla says
Thanks for sharing this recipes out.
Edinam says
You’re welcome
Salomey Sackey says
It's a very nice and simple way of grilling tilapia but what if I don't have the fish grilling basket
Edinam says
Hi there Salomey, you do not need to have a fish grilling basket to make this grilled tilapia.If you're grilling the fish over a regular grill, ensure that the grates on the grill are well oiled but also make sure you're not turning the fish over on its other side before it is ready as this will cause some of the fish to stick to the grates. If you're going to use an oven you can bake/grill the fish in aluminium foil. You won't get that charcoal taste but it will still taste good. I hope this helps!