Crispy Coconut Crusted Fish with Easy Sweet Chili Sauce

This Crispy Coconut Crusted Fish with Easy Sweet Chili Sauce Recipe is a great weeknight dinner or party appetizer. What's not to love about a piece of fish that's covered in sweet coconut flakes and panko before being fried! So juicy, so tender, so mouthwateringly delicious!

As a wild game and fish chef and recipe developer, I'm always trying to come up with more fish recipes to make life easier for busy parents like me. This fried coconut fish recipe is a spin on coconut shrimp, and these juicy pieces of homemade fried fish manage to be even better than what you would find in a restaurant. You could easily serve them as either a main course or appetizer. Plus, the combination of apricot preserves and sweet chili sauce creates a sticky, spicy, sweet sauce that couldn't be easier to make and is a perfect accompaniment for the crispy coconut crust.

If you've never dipped coconut fish or coconut shrimp into an sweet chili sauce, you are missing out! And with only two ingredients, this sweet chili sauce recipe is super easy to make.

I used paddlefish fillets for this recipe, but any firm white fish, such as walleye, perch, whiting, halibut, or cod would work.

Want all the paddlefish recipes? You're in luck! Try my: Lahori Paddlefish, Easy Lemon Butter Baked Paddlefish, Twice Baked Potatoes with Paddlefish Caviar, or learn How to Make Paddlefish Caviar.

How To Make This Easy Sweet Chili Sauce Recipe

1. In a medium bowl, combine the chili sauce and apricot preserves and mix well. Set aside.

How To Make Coconut Crusted Fish

1. Gather all of your ingredients.

2. Set a cooling rack over a rimmed baking sheet in your oven and set it to 220 degrees F.

3. Use ½ teaspoon of the kosher salt to salt the fish, press the salt into the fish fillets, and let them sit on a cutting board while you set up your dredging station.

4. Set up three medium shallow bowls. In the first, add the flour, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder and whisk with a fork to combine. In the second bowl, use a fork to thoroughly beat together the eggs. Stir together the coconut and panko breadcrumbs in the third bowl.

5. Dredge fish in the flour mixture, turning them to coat well, then tap off any excess. Coat the fish in the egg, allowing any excess to drip back into the bowl. Finally, roll the fish in the breadcrumb mixture, using your fingers to gently press the crumbs into the fish to help them adhere for a nice thick coating. Transfer the breaded fish to a plate and repeat with the remaining pieces of fish.

6. In a large cast-iron skillet or deep frying pan over medium heat, add about ¼ inch of vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot (about 350 degrees F), add ¼ of the fish pieces. (Don't be tempted to crowd the pan! That will cool the oil and make it difficult for the fish to crisp up.) Cook for 1 ½ minutes on each side until the fish is golden brown and cooked through. An instant-read thermometer inserted should read 145 degrees F.

7. Transfer the fried fish to the cooling rack in the oven. Using a metal slotted spoon, strain out any pieces of breading so it doesn't burn. Repeat with the remaining fish.

8. Serve warm with the dipping sauce and lime wedges.

How to Fry Fish

• The best oil for frying fish is one with a high smoke point, so vegetable, canola, peanut, or avocado. When it comes to frying, the higher the smoking point, the better. The smoking point refers to the point at which the oil starts to break down. Frying typically occurs between 350 - 375 degrees F, so oils with a smoking point within that range (such as olive oil) are not recommended for deep frying. Oil blends tend to be less expensive than pure oils. Certain options such as avocado oil or peanut oil produce crispy fish but at a much higher cost.
• Corn oil is fairly inexpensive and widely available. It has almost no flavor, and with such a high smoking point, it is ideal for any type of frying. Vegetable oil is a great all-around choice for deep frying and shallow frying like we are doing with this coconut crusted fish recipe. It can be a blend of several different oils, from corn to soybean to canola, making it the cheapest option. Though the smoking point is variable, it’s high enough for your frying needs. 
• Keep you oil as close to 350 degrees F as you can. The single most common problem when frying fish is oil that’s not hot enough. It can make for greasy fish.
• Don’t crowd the pan and try cooking too much fish all at once. Give each piece of fried fish some space. Fry in batches.
• Between each batch, let the oil return to 350 degrees F.
• Put your fried fish on a rack set over a rimmed baking sheet in a 220 degrees F. oven. This will prevent the fish from getting soggy.

How To Reheat Leftover Coconut Fish

To reheat this coconut fish, you can crisp them up in an oven at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until heated through.

More Fish Recipes

If you are looking for more great ways to use some of that fish in your freezer, be sure and check out some of our favorite fish recipes:

• Walleye with Lemon Caper Sauce
• Fish Casserole
• Butter Poached Puffer Fish
• How to Smoke Fish
• Fish Soup
• Potato Crusted Fish
• Catfish "Scallops"
• Potato Chip Fish Cakes
• Salmon Chowder
• Fish Tacos
• Pickled Northern Pike
• Crispy Fried Whole Fish (Pescado Frito)
• Creamy Tuscan Salmon with Dandelion Greens

Come Fishing in North Dakota

If you are headed to North Dakota to try your luck at fishing, check out the North Dakota Game & Fish Department website.

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