Swai Filets - Greek Basil, Garlic Parmesan

Submitted by Fabio

"Swai is a relatively new fish in the meat counters of my area of the country. While shopping at Sam’s, I saw the bags of frozen Swai fillets and they looked so good that I decided to buy them even though I did not know what the heck a Swai was. I think that what appealed the most to me was the price; $3.99 per pound, wow! So, I brought it home and Googled it. Swai is apparently similar in behavior to the catfish. It comes from the Mekong Delta and other areas of Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos and Vietnam). It is considered a white fish and it is sweet, mild in taste and nice and flaky. Since I had a whole bag of the fillets, I decided to experiment a bit and cooked them different ways. I fried it, baked it, grilled it, etc. It turned out great every way I tried it. However, my favorite experiment is as follows below."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 7
• Serves: 2

ingredients

• 12 ounces swai fillets (2 Filets. Some are larger, some are smaller)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh greek basil (or sweet basil if you can't find the Greek version)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (one for each filet)
• 1 lemon, juice of
• salt and pepper (optional)

directions

1. 1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. 2) Mix olive oil, garlic powder and basil in a small bowl.
3. 3) Place filets into a greased baking pan long enough to hold a fully-flattened filet. (I use olive oil cooking spray).
4. 4) Sprinkle lemon juice over the filets and let them stand for 10 minutes.
5. 5) Brush olive oil/spice mixture over one side, flip and brush the other side.
6. 6) Sprinkle Parmesan over the fillets.
7. 7) Bake for 15 minutes (times may vary according to your oven’s performance). Usually, if the meat flakes easily with a fork, it's pretty much done.

Reviews

[JackieOhNo!]

Swai is a nice, meaty fish that lends itself to such a variety of seasonings. These seasonings were spot-on. I can't find Greek basil anyplace, and ended up using regular basil. It's really not a lot of basil at all. Everything worked together very well to produce a flavorful dish, especially for the diet-conscious! Thanks for sharing. Made for Spring PAC 2013.

 

[abeautifullife786]

This fish is rich and tasty on it's own. I made it according to the recipe and my family enjoyed it and would eat it again. It reminds me of tofu in that whatever you add to it, it takes on the flavor of the added ingredients. I also added a few dashes of Parmesan cheese. Served with broccoli and tomatoes for color and texture. It is not 'fishy' tasting or smelling in the least. The price is great. Keep in mind, it is a rich tasting fish.

 

[1baytown]

Very good! We also baked this fish with the cajun seasoning mix found on this website and it was very good also.