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coconut fried fish with mango chili compound butter

Coconut Fish with Mango Chili Butter

Crisp, coconut-fried fish fillets topped with a compound butter bursting with Thai flavors in the form of powdered mango, minced shallot, tart lime, and spicy chilies.
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Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Thai
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

Mango-Chili Butter
  • 1 stick butter softened
  • 4 tbsp mango powder from freeze-dried mangoes
  • 2 tbsp minced shallot
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 2 tsp crushed red pepper
Coconut Fried Fish
  • 2 lbs. tilapia fillets or other fish
  • 1½ cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 cup dried, unsweetened, shredded coconut

Method
 

Mango-Chili Butter
  1. Leave the butter on the counter for a few hours until it is quite soft.
  2. Blitz the freeze-dried mango pieces in a food processor until they are a fine powder.
  3. Mash together the butter, mango powder, shallot, red pepper flakes, and lime juice until well-mixed and uniform.
  4. Spoon the mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form the butter into a tight roll and then twist the ends up and secure with a rubber band or piece of tape. Place this roll in the refrigerator to resolidify.
  5. If you omit the shallots, this also makes a great sweet and spicy butter for slightly different applications.
Coconut Fish
  1. Stir together the flour, salt and garlic powder on a plate. On another plate, crack and beat the eggs (one at a time, if two is too much volume for the plate). On a third plate, mix together the panko and dried coconut. This is your breading station.
  2. Add around ½ inch of oil to a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, and bring up to around 350 degrees F while you bread the fish filets. To bread the filets, dredge them in flour, dip them in egg, and then toss them in the panko and coconut mixture until well-covered. Once breaded, they can go immediately into the hot oil.
  3. Fry the fish, flipping once, until golden brown on both sides. When nicely browned and crisp, remove the filets to a plate covered with paper towels so that they can drain excess oil. Salt liberally when they come out of the pan and are still hot.
  4. To serve, plate a still-warm fried fish filet and top it with a generous pat of compound butter. The butter will melt and sauce the fish. Add a lime wedge for extra acid and a bit of rice and beans, and you have yourself an excellent plate.