Tropical Macadamia Encrusted Mahi Mahi

We had macadamia nut crusted mahi at a *very expensive* restaurant in Hawaii a year and a half ago. Ever since, my husband has been raving about it. I decided to try this recipe for our Easter dinner yesterday as a special treat for him. It was a huge success. He said, "this is every bit as delicious as _________ restaurant!" So there you have it -- from the mahi-loving man himself. I did make a few changes to the recipe: first, I used more nuts than bread crumbs because I only had seasoned crumbs and didn't want the nutty flavor to get lost. Second, I forgot to buy a habanero pepper so I just threw some crushed red pepper flakes into the sauce while it simmered. The spiciness was perfect. Next, I used about twice as much coconut as the recipe called for because I really wanted the coconut flavor to stand out. Also, since I used canned pineapple chunks rather than fresh, I used the syrup from the can to sweeten the sauce rather than sugar. And lastly, I served the sauce over the fish without straining it, sort of like a chutney -- the chunks of fruit were really tasty with the fish. Superb recipe!  -  17 Apr 2006  (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)

This recipe is outstanding!! I served it for a small dinner party (4 people) and I received glowing compliments (this using previously frozen mahi). Changes I made: I used a whole can of macadamia nuts (6 ounces) and a smaller amount of bread crumbs (maybe 2-3 ounces?). I found that I wanted more coating than the recipe calls for. I also dipped each fillet in an egg mixture (1 whole egg + 1 egg white) before coating. For the sauce I didn’t use the pepper as mentioned in other reviews, and instead just added a few shakes of crushed red pepper. I also only used 3 cups of chicken broth instead of 4 and found that I still needed to add a little cornstarch to thicken up the sauce appropriately. Instead of fresh fruit, I used canned mixed tropical fruit cups. And instead of sugar, I sweetened the sauce with the juice from the cans (I left the fruit in the sauce when I stirred in the cornstarch instead of straining out the fruit and it was fine this way). Finally I served the sauce and fruit over the fish like chutney. I received RAVES from everyone…I had reserved sauce so I served that on the table as well, and everyone was scraping the bowl. This was definitely a winner and I will certainly be making it again! My boyfriend LOVED it. Oh, and another reviewer mentioned that it is a lot of prep work…I didn’t find that to be the case if you used the canned fruits and crushed red pepper…the only chopping I had to do was the onion. Great recipe!!  -  07 Jun 2007  (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)

I would never want to mess with a chef's perfection, but Target's Archer Farms brand makes a sauce with habanero's and mangos if you want a short cut.  -  27 Nov 2007  (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)