This is my second attempt at making a coconut crust. You may notice that it’s the first one on the website…that’s because the first attempt was a “learning experience.” The first attempt ended in charred coconut flakes and open windows to thwart the smoke detector’s desire to tell me I messed up. After reflecting on what went wrong, I was determined to try again using a different method. I had a few ideas, but I didn’t really have a sure-fire countermeasure in mind.
The first idea I had to improve my outcome was to mix the coconut with bread crumbs before egg-washing and coating with the coconut. My reasoning was that bread crumbs brown nicely and would slow the (over)caramelization of the coconut so that the crust would be ready at the same time as the fish. However, after breading Sausage and Peppers Parmesan the other day, I mixed the leftover egg and bread crumbs and fried that up to see what would happen. The resulting glob crisped up very well and held together nicely, and that got me thinking…”What if I mixed the bread crumbs and egg to make the coating rather than doing an egg wash and then bread crumb dip?”
Well, I’m happy to say that it worked! We served our fish over coconut infused white rice and with steamed broccoli.
Time: 20 Minutes
Ingredients:
- Mahi fillets
- Eggs (1 for every two fillets)
- Bread Crumbs (we used regular instead of panko because they absorb liquid better…but I’m curious to see how panko would work)
- Sriracha
- Coconut flakes
- Soy sauce
Method:
- Crack and beat your egg into a bowl. Then, mix in your sriracha.
- Stir in your bread crumbs. Do this a little at a time, adding more as needed. The bread crumbs absorb the egg’s liquid in a latent fashion, and you want to make sure your crusting isn’t too dry when you to to coat your fish.
- Stir in your coconut flakes and soy sauce.
- Pat your fish fillets dry with a paper towel.
- Scoop some of your coating with your hand, and press it atop your mahi mahi fillets so that it sticks. Then, flip and coat the other side in the same manner.
- Heat some oil (we used peanut oil) in a pan (we used cast iron). When the oil is hot, carefully, place your fish in the pan, and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Flip, and let cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- When your fish reaches an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees F, you’re done.
- Plate, devour, and enjoy!
