Sunday, June 10, 2007

Cedar Plank Tilapia



We bought some cedar planks at the Carrboro Farmer's Market with the intent to grill some type of fish. I was somewhat familiar with the concept of grilling trout but since tilapia was on super special at the Teeter, the choice was made for us. I'll have to admit I was more than a bit skeptical about the impact the cedar would have on the taste. I've grilled with hickory chips before and always love the taste charcoal grilling gives -but always felt that these were more nuances than the main show.

We marinated the tilapia fillets in Scott's Barbeque sauce (Scott's is good for more than just pork and chicken) for a couple hours prior to grilling. I thought that with a sauce that powerful, we'd barely be able to tell the difference between plank grilling or normal grilling. Boy, was I wrong. The tilapia just soaked up the cedar smokiness and served as a wonderful compliment to the marinade.

The following are the instructions --

Soak the cedar plank well - ideally at least a few hours, but the longer the better. Set up the grill for direct grilling on medium-high. When ready to cook, place the plank on the hot grate and leave it until there is a smell of smoke, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the plank over and place the fish on top. Cover the grill and cook until the fish is cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 135 degrees. Check the plank occasionally - if the edges start to catch fire, mist with water, or move the plank to a cooler part of the grill. Cooking time will probably be about 20-25 minutes.

2 comments:

Ron Simpson said...

I do a cedar plank tilapia with a lemon pepper and butter, finished off at the end with fresh grated Parmesan cheese. It is pretty good. You can also cedar plank scallops and shrimp. It is a good way to cook that imparts excellent flavor.

marcusclarkus said...

I had used cedar for salmon, but after reading this post, I'd used it on tilapia today. It turned out great. Thanks for the recomendation. I used a mango marinade and then a blackened seasoning. Those along with the cedar smoke all complimented each other well.

MC in NC