Tilapia Caribbean Style… a Plantain Leaf was Never so Useful!

Lili's Latin Kitchen

By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

Tilapia cooked in plantain leaf
Tilapia cooked in plantain leaf

Traveling with my family my dad took us to a small beach town called Covenas located in the Magadalena region of Colombia. We rented a small house for a week where we enjoyed daily gastronomic dishes typical from the Magdalena region. Every day, a local cook came to make the best dishes using local ingredients and fresh fish. One of the nights for dinner, our amazing chef made fresh tilapia wrapped in plantain leaves cooked over fire. Inside the tamale-looking dish she placed a bed of vegetables and topped it a whole fish. The plantain leaf seals all the flavors and allows the juices to emerge into a flavorful broth.
I made my own version of this dish placing a bed of onions and tomatoes inside a plantain leaf but I didn't want to make a whole dish so I decided to replace it with tilapia filets. This is a healthy, tasty and easy to make dish that takes 35 minutes to cook from beginning to end.

Fish ready to wrap and close
Fish ready to wrap and close

Ingredients
1 plantain leaf
1 tomato, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tilapia filet
½ lime
Salt to taste
All purpose seasoning


Try this dish with my recipe for the perfect white rice

Directions

Wrapped tilapia ready to bake
Wrapped tilapia ready to bake


Preheat the oven at 350 degrees. Fold the plantain leaf in half and place a bed of tomatoes, onions and garlic. Top with the tilapia and squeeze the lime on the fish. Finish with salt and all-purpose seasoning to taste. Wrap the plantain fish covering it with the ends of the plantain leaf and bring it to the oven for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully open the fish without spilling the juices. Serve and enjoy!


For content that speaks to you, visit Shine Latina