![]() ![]() ![]() After sashimi, fried fugu, which is crispy outside, but juicy inside, is served, followed by Fugu hot pot (Fugu-nabe) along with pre-boiled creamy milk. The skin is also used for the appetizer, Fugu skin jelly or Nikogori. Slightly boiled and gelatinized fugu skin is added to the sashimi platter for a crunchy texture. As the taste is very delicate, a mixture of soy sauce and a citrus juice called Ponzu along with Momiji oroshi (Japanese radish and red chilli grated together) and chives accompanies the sashimi to enhance the taste. The meat is soft to touch but elastic, translucent, supple, shiny and slightly sweet. ![]() It is a traditional arrangement done during the cold season.Īt Sakae Fuku there’s only one menu: a course of all kind of dishes with wild “torafugu” (tora means tiger in Japanese) and the highest quality and price out of all 22 eatable fugu species. Kikumori (kiku is chrysanthemum in Japanese) is one of the typical ways in which they arrange fugu sashimi. Only licensed and experienced chefs are allowed to prepare fugu. Recently, farmed non-poisonous fugu is also available, though wild blowfish is still preferred. In the last decade, 14 people were killed by fugu poisoning these tragedies occurred only in case of eating fugu prepared without license or eating the liver, the most dangerous part. In Tokyo, poisonous organs are disposed in a dedicated container with a lock, then burnt, processed with chemicals, and buried. Fugu cuisine was developed to an art around Shiminoseki and now it has flourished throughout the country.Įach prefecture has strict regulations to treat this fish. Research was done on the poison contained in fugu and selling the fish (with the toxic internal organs removed) became legal in Tokyo in 1892. Another significance of fugu for me is that the taste always reminds me of home.īefore the toxicity was studied, fugu was banned several times till the ban was finally lifted in 1888. The unique taste and texture, especially of the sashimi, cannot be replaced by any other fish, and once experienced, no one will deny the unparalleled gastronomic pleasure it can give. Knowing the danger involved, we never try to prepare the fish by ourselves at home. I’m not afraid of fugu and I don’t think I’m an exception. The sharpest-tongued epicure and still the last word on food in Japan praised fugu and asserted that those who did not eat it for fear of being poisoned lacked common sense! It is used as a friendly and lovable character everywhere kind of like Mickey Mouse. Here, fugu is not treated as a dangerous fish. Safely prepared fresh fugu meat is even sold through online retailers. Despite all this, we Japanese have been voluntary eating this lethal fish for more than 2000 years. In some regions, it is called Teppo, which literally means gun in Japanese, because eating them was like playing Russian roulette. Its comical-looking puffy exterior notwithstanding, the liver and ovaries of this fish contains tetrodotoxin, which is about 850 times stronger than potassium cyanide. It might come as a shock to some of you that this delicacy contains a deadly poison. 7500 per kilo at the Haedomari market in Shimonoseki city (around 1000 km from Tokyo). It is known for its high price tag - on January 5, it was selling at Rs. The best time to taste it is in winter, and wild fugu fishing is legally allowed for a limited period only, around October to March but thanks to fugu farming, they are available all year round. In Yamaguchi, fugu is called “fuku”, which means happiness in Japanese.įugu (blowfish), undoubtedly the king of Japanese gastronomy, is famed for its delicate taste. One chilly afternoon, we were at Sakae Fuku, a fugu (blowfish) specialty restaurant in Shunan city (in Yamaguchi) where the fishing method dedicated to catching this type of fish was developed. ![]()
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