I purchased a beautiful 1.56 lb hunk of fresh Ono from the farmer’s market this weekend. I came home and thought to myself, “This would be wonderful with macadamia nuts and mango.” Doing a search on google led me straight to Beverly Gannon’s fantastic recipe. What a find! The breading provided a crispy crust with a subtle nuttiness; the mango butter was a sweet and creamy complement to the delicate white flesh of the fish; and the garlic chile paste in the mayonnaise spread added just a touch of heat. Perfect! What follows next are a few procedural notes for future attempts.

1. This was an enormous amount of fish for two people. I could serve three or even four people if I had a side dish of vegetables. So, if you can, limit yourself about a 0.5 lb per person for a nice sizeable meal.
2. I had a bit of trouble maneuvering the fillets—first into the pan and then onto the roasting tray. To move the ono into the pan, just use your hands to lift the fish (breaded side up), then quickly but gently flip the fish onto the hot surface. Don't try to use a spatula or grab the fillet pincer-like with your fingers; you'll get breading and mayonnaise sloughing off everywhere.

   Also, don’t move the fish while it’s searing. Motion is more likely to crack the surface of the breading. Just let the heat do it’s work; the crust will firm up and crisp—which is exactly what you want.



3. The non-breaded side of the fish will still be cold when you’re done searing. So, to get the fillet back into the oven, take a sheet of aluminum foil, place it over the top of the pan, place your hand on top of the foil (under the fish), and quickly flip the pan upside-down. Then place the aluminum foil and the fish into your tray.


4. The ono took exactly 7 minutes to bake in the oven.


5. There was at least a cup of leftover breading. I must find some other use for this…


6. Concerning the mango lime butter: whenever dairy, acid, salt, and heat are invited to the party, I get a bit nervous about the possibility of curdling. (Yes, yes, the cream is fairly fatty and should counteract the tendency to curdle. But still!) So during the entire process I used a heat setting no higher than 3 on my stove; also, instead of simply mixing the cream in with the pot still on the stove, I poured the lime-mango concoction into my food processor, turned the processor on, then drizzled the cream in through the top.