I love fish, so I am always in search of a new fish to try out in my kitchen. Recently, I noticed a fish called SWAI being offered in my local grocery store. I finally bought some to try out. It is a mild, white fish originating from Southeast Asia. I researched a couple of ways to prepare it, and made it for done one day. I really liked the fish. My kids, ehhh not so much. I kept buying it and trying it out anyway. (I live by the rule of trying something seven times before deciding if you like it or not). I decided to try swai breaded with panko bread crumbs. It was a winner! My oldest child tried it and loved it. On another note, I put some pan seared pieces of swai in my middle child’s pasta dish and she thought it was tilapia and loved it. Shhh…I still haven’t confessed about that one. I don’t think she reads my blog, so no biggie. 🙂 This recipe is easy. I rarely make things with tons of ingredients. I also like to use ingredients that are commonly found in any grocery store.
No worries if you are not into swai, this recipe works will with tilapia.
I only used two swai fillets, but you can use up to five or six fillets with the amount of ingredients we will use.
I don’t like large fillets, so I cut mine in half. These fillets are pretty long anyway, so cutting them in half helps them fit into my pan.
Place the panko bread crumbs (which happen to resemble Rice Crispy Cereal), Trader Joe’s 21 Season Salute, black pepper, and lemon pepper into a shallow dish, large enough to coat the fillets without bending them.
Stir the mixture until all the seasonings are distributed evenly throughout.
In another shallow dish, crack an egg and add 2 tablespoons of water to it. (My oldest daughter is my hand model today. She was the perfect choice since she has long slender fingers, and she always keeps her nails done.)
Whisk away….(This mini whisk has to be one of my fav kitchen toys. Don’t have one? Grab one here.)
Dip both sides of the fillets in the egg wash.
Then coat them in the panko bread crumb mixture….
Now they are ready to go into the pan. You can use a skillet, it’s all good.
Just coat the bottom of the skillet with vegetable oil. Olive oil works as well. In a perfect world, my pan would be totally flat and my oil would evenly cover the bottom of the skillet.
Once the oil is hot, add you fillets
Once they are nice and brown, flip ’em over to brown the other side.
So now, they are done. Remove them from the pan to feed the starving family that patiently waited for the food to have a photo shoot before they could eat. (Maybe that’s just at my house).
Pretty, huh?
I served mine with my crazy corn cakes and sautéed kale from my cookbook Fast & Fabulous Family Meals. Every southern girl loves greens and cornbread, right?
So what do you think??? Let me know in the comments. If you post this on social media, be sure to use the hashtag #fastandfabmeals and you become an official #rocqstar!
- 5 swai fillets
- 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs, plain
- 2 teaspoons Trader Joe's 21 Season Salute
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil
- Kitchen equipment: skillet, spatula, tongs, 2 shallow pans for coating fish, tablespoon, mini whisk or fork.
- Kitchen equipment: skillet, spatula, tongs, 2 shallow pans for coating fish, mini whisk or fork.
- Cut fillet in half horizontally.
- In a shallow dish, combine panko bread crumbs and dry seasonings. Stir until seasonings are evenly distributed throughout bread crumbs.
- In a different shallow dish, whisk together egg and water.
- Dip both sides of fillets in egg wash, then dip both sids into bread crumb mixture.
- Heat oil in skillet over high heat.
- When oil is hot, place fillets in skillet and allow them to cook for about 3 minutes, or until desired brown color is reached.
- Flip over fillets and cook on the other side for an additional 3 minutes or until desired brown color is reached. Be sure fish is cooked throughout as well.
- Remove from skillet onto a paper towel covered plate, to absorb excess oil.
