#18. Deep Fried Fish with Mango Salad at Thai Nakorn

You'll have noticed we're changing who writes this feature on a day by day basis: this is how you know we're getting close to the end of our countdown. Make sure to pick up a copy of our Best of OC 2010 when it hits the newsstands October 14!

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#18. Deep Fried Fish with Mango Salad at Thai Nakorn

Thai Nakorn has too many worthy dishes to name.  Throw a dart on the menu and where it lands you'll get a good dish to rave about.  But this is especially true for the specials section on the first page, where this beauty of a fish dish resides.  It's the deep fried fish filet with mango salad.

A whole, deep-fried deboned trout is splayed open like a text book. You eat it all. The skin crackles like dry parchment. The moist meat flakes. The golden casing of batter smacks of turmeric. On top of each morsel you pile shredded mango salad that comes in a side bowl. A warning: The stuff is riddled with finely diced Thai chilies you might not see at first, but will melt your face into dribbling mess of flop sweat and tears. Approach with extreme caution but eat with gusto..

Thai Nakorn, 12532 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove, CA 92843, (714) 583-8938

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