Broiled tilapia is a fish dish that has been cooked with the direct application of top-down heat, generally using an oven’s “broil” setting. There are many ways of preparing and presenting broiled tilapia, but the cooking method is always the same. Broiling involves a short period of intense heat cooking. It tends to leave tilapia, which is a naturally tender fish, with a desirable crisp exterior while preserving the interior’s moist flakiness.
Many cooks recommend broiling as a method of cooking fish, and it works especially well for tilapia. Most fish, tilapia included, is made up of relatively tender fillets that are sensitive to overcooking. Too much heat will make them tough. Baking fish is a common alternative to broiling, but often requires sauces or thick marinades to keep fillets moist. Broiling, on the other hand, can often be done with little or no preparation.
In broiling, an oven’s top heating element heats up full force, essentially creating a sort of reverse grill in the oven chamber. Unlike in baking, where hot air circulates at a desired temperature, broiling involves direct heat only from above. It is not usually possible to set a broiling temperature.
Tilapia is a tender white fish that generally cooks best either in a broiler or in a skillet, where temperature can be applied in a quick and direct fashion. Most of the time, broiled tilapia is prepared using fillets. Cooks can choose whether to keep the skin on or off, as well as whether or not to apply any marinades, spice rubs, or seasonings to the flesh before cooking it. In general, broiling is recommended skin-on. The skin helps the fillets to seal in moisture as they cook and also acts as insulation from the pan as it heats.
Broiled tilapia can also be made with a whole fish, which is arguably the simplest preparation — but can be the hardest to eat. In this case, the fish is generally placed directly on the broiling pan, sometimes rubbed in oil, but often just left plain. Cooks must be careful to closely monitor the temperature of a broiling fish done this way, as it can be easier to under-cook the flesh when it is protected by skin on all sides. To ensure even cooking, cooks usually rotate whole broiled tilapia partway through the cooking process and monitor the fish's internal temperature with a cooking thermometer.
It is common for broiled tilapia to be made alongside other broiled foods, particularly vegetables. Cooks often arrange different vegetables around the tilapia on the broiling tray. This makes cooking multiple dishes efficient, while infusing vegetable flavors into the cooking fish, and vice versa.