If you’ve ever been on our Southernmost Food Tour, then you’ve had the pleasure of biting into a fresh, vibrant, locally-caught fish taco from Bad Boy Burrito. This tasty stop is the tour’s highlight of our local seafood which ranges from Caribbean lobster and Stone crab, to our famed Key West Pink Shrimp. But, if you’re ANY kind of fish lover, it’s our vast selection of these finned filets that will have you drooling and wanderlusting for our island.

Bad Boy owner, Fito Tinoco, holding up “today’s local catch”

While out hunting on Old Town streets looking for fresh fish and the best ways to eat it, you’ll be happy to hear there’s more than a handful of places to find it. It’s down our Bahama Village Petronia St that you’ll walk up to a family run business who’s company motto is “fresh is best.” Here at Bad Boy Burrito, Fito Tinoco, his wife Theresa, his mother AND brother are in the kitchen or at the counter making from-scratch tortillas, salsas, sauces, blended fruit drinks and more.

Expect a line, because their Cayo Hueso Fish Tacos are the perfect handheld meal served up with beans and rice, alongside an entire menu of intoxicatingly fresh, flavorful dishes that will have you returning again and again. It’s their combination of salty cheese, spicy sauce, crunchy veggies, and smooth sour cream that makes your mouth say, “Wow!” Now wash it down with their aqua fresca, a made-to-order blended watermelon and lime drink and that makes for one happy tummy….

Is your tummy growling yet? Ours is.

We know what a bummer it can be to NOT be in Key West on any given day, so we did you a solid and reached out to our good pal, Fito, to get the scoop (just for you) on how to recreate these yummies in your own home. So crack a beer, whip these up, close your eyes and take a bite. You’re basically here. We’re not saying these are a replacement for coming down, but they might help with the separation anxiety until you next sit down at the actual Bad Boy table.  Enjoy!

Bad Boy Burrito’s “Cayo Hueso” Fish Tacos

INGREDIENTS

• Fish of choice (recommended: Snapper, Grouper, or Mahi Mahi)
• Dash of garlic salt & pepper
• Red cabbage (thinly sliced)
• Cojita cheese (crumbled)
• Radish (thinly sliced)
• Jalepeno (thinly sliced)
• small corn or flour tortillas
• Cilantro (rough chopped)
• Sour cream
• cooked white rice
• canned black beans

Fresh Pico de Gallo (salsa)

• 1 white or yellow onion
• 4 Roma tomatoes (slightly under ripe is fine)
• 1 cup fresh scallions /green onions  minced
• 1 lime (juiced)
• Salt

Mince equal parts onion and tomato, add to bowl with minced scallions, pour in lime juice. Mix. Salt to taste

Salsa Verde (The Bad Boy secret ingredient that “Brings the heat!”)

• 4 jalapeños (seeded if you’re not a spice lover)
• 3 bunches of cilantro (lots of cilantro)
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
• salt to taste

Remove & discard stems from jalapeños and outer peel of garlic to reveal cloves.  Blend all ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Spicy lovers can keep the seeds for the jalapeños and all the stems of the cilantro and everything! Salt to taste. Add more cilantro if too thin.

FISH TACO DIRECTIONS

1. Prep the ingredients. Pre-make both the pico de gallo & salsa verde. Spoon sour cream into one corner of a small plastic sandwich bag and securely zip close.  Place to the side with prepped ingredients.
2. Cut fish into small “taco sized” mini filets. Pat fish dry, coat lightly with olive oil and sprinkle generously with garlic salt and pepper. Cook on grill or pan fry to desired cook. Place on plate lined with a paper towel. Cover to keep in heat.
3. Using hot pan or grill, quickly heat up tortilla shells. Once warm, assemble tacos.
4. Place 3 tortillas on a plate with fish piece in the middle of each. Spoon salsa verde over fish. Add cojita, red cabbage, pico de gallo. Top with cilantro, a few radish and jalepeno slices. Snip the corner tip of the bagged sour cream and squeeze back and forth over each taco.
5. Serve with rice, beans, and more pico de gallo.
6. Enjoy!

LIKE IT? PIN IT!