Conch pounded thin, dredged and flash fried until the edges curl, served with lime and a sharp sauce. The other half of Key West's conch repertoire, and the harder one to cook well.

Cracked refers to the mallet work, not the batter: Bahamian cooks beat the muscle until the fibres break down, which is the only way to get a tender result from a mollusc built to live inside a fortress. The technique arrived with Bahamian settlers in the 1800s and stayed on Key West menus long after the local fishery closed. Since Florida's 1985 harvest ban the meat has been imported from the Caribbean, and the difference between a good plate and a bad one is entirely in the pounding. Conch Republic Seafood Company serves it with an orange horseradish marmalade; B.O.'s Fish Wagon fries it in a driftwood shack at Caroline and William.

2 editor picks for Cracked conch in Key West, ranked by editorial score. All Key West signature dishes · Cracked conch across every city.