Small Wonders

Key West seafood guru Ed Little leads a mission to find the island’s best locally caught shrimp.

It happens more than you might expect. Ed Little, a marine biologist and president of the Key West Maritime Historical Society, will show a visitor a pile of uncooked shrimp on ice at one of Key West’s many markets. The common reaction: astonishment. “They have no idea what they’re look- ing at!” Little exclaims. “They think a shrimp is just a tail with breading on it. But really, they’re seabugs.”

And seabugs are delicious — especially on this island where a special species is served: the Key West pink. This variety is identified by a tiny pink dot on the side of the tail, indicating that you’re eating shrimp that was probably caught 20 to 30 miles northwest of the island. With Little as my guide, I was on a mission to find the best restaurant-prepared pink.

At Rusty Anchor Restaurant, a tucked-away joint in Stock Island northeast of Key West, Little orders an off-menu appetizer: plump pinks tattooed by grill marks, served with shells and heads attached and a lime wedge. Once they get the heads off, even the squeamish will love the meaty texture and burst of gumbo-like spice.

At Hogfish Bar and Grill, also in Stock Island, we take a patio seat and prepare to experience the glory of the deep fryer. Served with tartar, the fried panko- covered shrimp and chips have an addictive crunch and a lack of grease that makes them perfect for machine-gun consumption — you know, when you reach for the next one before you finish chewing the first piece.

Back in Key West, we go a bit more upscale at the James Beard Award-winning Sarabeth’s. Here, pinks are lumped with crabmeat into a fried cornmeal-crusted cake served atop baby greens and a jicama-mango-pineapple slaw. The browned cake cracks almost like crème brûlée when pierced with a spoon, and the pinks stand out as decadent, flavor-packed bites.

As much as I enjoy the gourmet crab-and-shrimp creation and tackling pinks head-on, my vote is for Hogfish. I may have learned a few things about shrimp, but I still happen to like mine with breading on it.

Rusty Anchor Restaurant
5510 Fifth Ave, Stock Island; 305-296-2893

Hogfish Bar and Grill
6810 Front St, Stock Island; 305-293-4041; www.hogfishbar.com

Sarabeth’s
530 Simonton St; 305- 293-8181; www.sarabethskeywest.com