Macadamia Crusted Halibut with spicy coconut sauce

I had this dish at the Claim Jumper restaurant many years ago and totally fell in love with it. Seriously, I was obsessed! I tried to copy it since I couldn't find a recipe online. I actually think I made it better. there are a couple of things in here that I don't think they did at CJ's. Soooo, although this is a copycat recipe, it still put my own spin on it :-) Enjoy!

Ingredients:

4, 6oz halibut fillets 1 cup of crushed macadamia Nuts (I find it easiest to use a wide bladed knife on it’s side, pressing down on the nuts to crush them into a fine crumb, but not going so far as to make a paste. You basically want the pieces to be a little bigger than the panko pieces, but not much) 1 cup of Panko bread crumbs 2 tsp of Orange zest 2 tsp of Lemon zest ½ tsp of salt ½ tsp of pepper 2 egg Whites 4 Tbs of vegetable Oil

4 cups of cooked rice

Combine:

1 (15 oz) can of coconut Milk 2 Tsp (approximately) of Sriracha ( you will need to do this to taste. It should have a good bite, but not bite your face off)

Mix together and refrigerate for ½ hour while you do the remaining steps: 2 cups chopped mango(1/4” dice) (can use frozen mango if fresh is unavail) 1/3 cup of finely chopped mint 2 Tbs chopped white onion 1 tsp honey 2 Tbs of orange juice dash of salt

Directions:

Mix together the ingredients for the mango salsa and place in the refrigerator while you finish this recipe.

Set the rice on to cook according to package directions.

Combine the coconut milk and sriracha (to taste) and set aside for later use.

Lay the 4 pieces of halibut on a clean work surface. Season each piece with the salt, pepper.

In a bowl, beat the egg whites until they are loose and no longer snotty looking (sorry, it’s the only word I can think of to describe it).

In a separate bowl, mix together the nuts, panko, citrus zests and salt and pepper and set aside.

Begin by dipping the fish into the egg whites and then pressing both sides of the fish into the nut/crumb mixture. Press the nuts/crumbs into the fish to secure and set on a cookie sheet.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Heat a large saute pan coated with the oil to medium heat. Place 2 pieces (or 4 if the pan is big enough) of the fish,in the pan and sear for 3 to 4 minutes, until the macadamias are golden brown. Flip the fish and cook for another 3 minutes. Repeat the process with the 2 remaining pieces of fish. Place all 4 pieces of fish in a baking dish and cook in the oven for another 8 to 10 minutes.

**Note that because macadamia nuts have a fair amount of oil in them, they will brown very quickly. This is the reason that you only cook them for a few minutes in the sauté pan. You want the crunch from the sauté pan, but you can’t cook it to completion in the oil or it will burn the nuts. This is why it’s finished in the oven.

Once the fish is done, remove it from the oven and plate it by putting a scoop of rice on the plate, topping it with a fish fillet. Spoon the coconut sauce around the edge in a ring (be generous, it’s to DIE for) and finally top the fish with a scoop of the mago/mint salsa.

Enjoy!