Fugu
Fugu, the Japanese word for pufferfish, blowfish, balloonfish, globefish or swellfish, is one of the world’s most poisonous fish. The kanji characters used to write fugu 「河豚」 literally translate as “river pig”. The fish is a delicacy in Japan and has been consumed by the Japanese for centuries.
Image source: Just Hungry
Fugu flesh is edible, but the skin, liver and ovaries contain lethal amounts of the poison tetrododoxin. If any of these elements are consumed, then the poison paralyzes the muscles while the victim stays fully conscious, and eventually dies from asphyxiation.
The trick to surviving a fugu meal is to make sure that it is prepared correctly. All traces of the internal organs must be removed from the fish’s flesh, that is why restaurants can only serve fugu if it is prepared by a fully qualified fugu chef.
Because the Japanese have been eating fugu for so long, they have devised many methods of cooking the deadly fish. The most common ways of preparing fugu are as a thinly-sliced sashimi, simmered in vegetables (known as techiri), or deep fried as kara-age. The skin can be served in a salad, and the fins of the fish are also commonly removed, battered, fried and served in sake.
So, if you enjoy playing Russian roulette, chow down on a Filet-O-Fugu today.
Want more?
If you think that this is weird then check out 10 Weird Japanese Foods for more bizarre morsels of Japanese culinary strangeness such as raw horse meat, fish sperm, grasshoppers, nattō and more. If you are not that adventurous, then check out 10 Cool Japanese Foods for a delicious selection of ten tasty morsels of Japanese culinary goodness such as yakitori, sukiyaki, ramen, yakiniku, kushikatsu and more.
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It makes you wonder… how many Japanese people had to die before they worked out to cook the fish… and why did they persist? It’s not like they had a lack of other sealife to eat! I’m not sure if this is a testament to their persistence and ingenuity, or their lack of basic commonsense. One of the mysteries of the world…
I’m hearin’ ya @AdelaideBen. There are plenty more fish in the sea (excuse pun).
Diners are basically putting their lives in the hands of a chef. Something that I just can’t completely comprehend. Apparently even the Emperor of Japan is forbidden from eating fugu for his own safety. So, if it is not good for the Emperor why is it good for the people?
> testament to their persistence and ingenuity, or their lack of basic commonsense.
Good man. A fellow believer in the axiom: if you can’t work in a Simpsons refeence, you’re just not trying.
(That or using “___ or ___ not, there is no try.”)
River pig describes it well.
Only had ‘hire-zake’: dried fugu fin in warm sake. Didn’t taste bad, and numb lips was kind of cool.
Very interesting article, I appreciated the explanation about the fugu kanjis
eating a fish that might kill me? Sorry I will pass….