Coconut chicken strips with honey mango sauce

We made our monthly trip to Costco last weekend and bought beautiful peaches and mangoes. Oh my gosh, those peaches were just so delicious and juicy, I finished all 8 of them in a box in just a couple of days without knowing. And Mangoes took a little longer to ripe so I finally cut them open a few days ago. Those were so yummy too! But unlike peaches, even though we love mangoes, I just can't eat many of them at one seating. Does a mango have more calories than a peach? I don't know..so we needed to use it up in different ways too. I mean I can always freeze it but they were too good to go in the freezer. 

So I started to look for mango recipes. When I found this honey mango sauce recipe, I knew it's right up our alley. My tot loves dipping like any kids. When we make chicken dish, we usually use Thai chili sauce but chicken and mango goes so nicely together, I couldn't resist. And it's super easy. Dump everything and blend, and there, you have a beautiful creamy mango-y sauce. My tot actually made the sauce. While saying, "I am cooking like a chef!". Then he's so proud of himself when he eats whatever he made. =)

I thought about baking them but I wanted to guarantee the crispiness, so I went somewhere in the middle. Pan frying. We cleaned the plate so quickly. With some blenched veggies since the dip is so yummy. One thing that makes me wonder is, why is the dip not bright yellow? Original recipe seems to have a beautiful bright yellow. Maybe frozen mangoes have better color? I don't know. It surely had a lot of mango in it and fragrant, it was just the color. This time I used unsweetened coconut but maybe next time, I'll try sweetened shredded coconut and see if it makes a big difference. It would have been even more perfect, if I could have a sip of mango-tini to go with it. Mmm...just a couple more months.. =)

Coconut chicken strips with honey mango sauce

Printable recipe 

Ingredients :

2 chicken breasts, cut into strips(about 12-15 strips total)

pinch of curry powder

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups shredded coconut(sweetened or unsweetened)

1 Tbsp chopped parsley

Vegetable oil to fry

honey mango sauce

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup mango(fresh or if frozen, thawed)

2 Tbsp fresh flat leave parsley

1 Tbsp honey

1/8 tsp curry powder

1 tsp sririacha(optional - or more if you want more kick)

1/2 tsp lemon juice

Directions :

1. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, curry powder and paprika.

2. Coat the chicken strips with flour, then egg then shredded coconut pressing it down. Heat up the oil and either deep fry or pan fry. Cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes or until done and golden brown.

3. As soon as you take the chicken out of the oil, sprinkle chopped parsley, salt and pepper. 

4. Make honey mango sauce - In a food processor, add all the ingredients together and blend. 

5. Serve immediately. If heating up, toasting using a toaster oven works very well. 

*Adapted from the cozy apron.