Facts & History of fugu

 

Fugu fish may just be Japan's most notorious dish. also known as Japanese puffer fish, blowfish or globe fish, is a seasonal delicacy. Highly sought after in winter when fugu are at their plumpest, Tokyo's fugu restaurants proudly display the latest bulbous catch in highly-visible tanks, later to be served up as fugu sushi, sashimi or in hot pots.
So, what's so good about fugu? Well, much of the fascination must be credited to the fact that eating the prized fugu fish can kill you. Here's what you need to know about fugu poison and eating Japanese puffer fish.
Several torafugu (tiger puffer fish) swim in a tank at a fugu restaurant in Tokyo.
History of fugu consumption in Japan
It is believed that fugu has been eaten for centuries up to millenniums thanks to fugu bones that have been found in shell middens dating back to more than 2,300 years back.
Centuries later, heading into the Edo period (1603 – 1868), fugu consumption was banned altogether due to numerous cases of samurai dying of pufferfish induced poisoning. However, this was also a time when fish eating culture flourished and techniques to safely eat fugu were gradually being developed, especially in the western parts of Japan where it was easier to get.
At the start of the Meiji Era, toward the 1880s, the tendency still leaned toward restricting fugu consumption due to succeeding intoxication incidents. A few years later however, officials visiting Shimonoseki in the west of Japan (south of Honshū island) would be captivated by the taste of this fish and restrictions would begin to gradually be lifted throughout the country as expertise in safe fugu preparation would expand, starting with the Yamaguchi prefecture (home to Shimonoseki) in 1898, where fugu culture and consumption was more common than in other parts of Japan.
Other prefectures and municipalities would follow that example during the 20th century, such as the Hyogo prefecture lifting the ban on fugu in 1918 followed by Osaka in 1941 before spreading and reviving the fugu culture in the rest of the country.
Over the following years, starting in Osaka in 1948, were also implemented restrictions stating that one must be licensed to serve or sell fugu so as to avoid tetrodotoxin poisoning incidents. This is why nowadays, while it is possible to eat fugu in a licensed restaurant, one is not allowed to prepare and serve fugu without a proper state authorization.
 
Where does fugu come from
Most fugu production in Japan comes from Shimonoseki (western Japan, south of Honshū island) due to its high concentration of the fish, where it is harvested during spawning season in spring. Nonetheless, it is also possible to find fugu in other regions of Japan such as the Tokyo bay area or even further up North. Should you go fishing in Japanese waters you might just happen to catch fugu. In addition, it is also farmed in cages in the Pacific Ocean.
 
Toxicity
Fugu contains lethal amounts of the poison tetrodotoxin in its organs, especially the liver, the ovaries, eyes, and skin. The poison, a sodium channel blocker, paralyzes the muscles while the victim stays fully conscious, the poisoned victim is unable to breathe, and eventually dies from asphyxiation. There is no known antidote for fugu poison. The standard treatment is to support the respiratory and circulatory systems until the poison is metabolized and excreted by the victim's body.
Researchers have determined that a fugu's tetrodotoxin comes from eating other animals infested with tetrodotoxin-laden bacteria, to which the fish develops insensitivity over time. Whether tetrodotoxin is sequestered from or produced by symbiotic bacteria is still debated. As such, efforts have been made in research and aquaculture to allow farmers to produce safe fugu. Farmers now produce poison-free fugu by keeping the fish away from the bacteria.
Usuki, a town in Ōita Prefecture, has become known for selling non-poisonous fugu.
Fugu poisoning and fugu fish deaths
The liver, ovaries and skin, among other parts in Japanese puffer fish can contain lethal amounts of tetrodotoxin, a type of neurotoxin. Fugu poison is several hundred times more toxic than cyanide, with just a sliver of the poisonous parts enough to cause a horrendous and untimely death.
While the dish is served minus the potentially deadly organs, much care must be taken to ensure that these parts are sufficiently removed and that they do not contaminate the meat.
Nationwide, there are about 20-40 cases of fugu poisoning a year, with between 0-3 deaths. Most deaths occur as a result of people catching and trying to prepare the fish themselves or when diners have demanded to be served the poisonous (and apparently delicious) liver. It sounds crazy, because it is!
It should also be said that there are over 100 different varieties of puffer fish, each with varying degrees of lethality and poisonous parts. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the varieties and their anatomies is paramount for any fugu chef.
Why do people eat fugu in Japan?
For his protection, fugu is the only food the Japanese Emperor is forbidden to eat.
it's expensive and viewed as a delicacy, so there's the fine dining aspect,
“Thrill” of flirting with danger, and it seems humans just can't help themselves.
Some people even deliberately eat the highly toxic internal organs, particularly the liver, which is viewed as a delicacy. As you can imagine, that often doesn't end well.
What happens if you consume fugu poison?
Most of the deaths have historically come from fishermen and their families, after catching the fish and trying to prepare it themselves, often because of food shortages. These days similar incidents still happen, but mostly because people see it as a chance to try it at home without the high-ticket fugu price at restaurants.
Death by fugu poisoning is particularly unpleasant. Symptoms include dizziness, weakness, headache, nausea and difficulty breathing.
The victim remains fully conscious while their body shuts down from the inside, the toxin paralyzing the muscles to the point that the victim cannot move, speak or respond, and eventually causing death by asphyxiation. There is no known antidote.
Treatment involves supporting the victim's respiratory and circulatory systems while the toxin is excreted from the body. In some regions of Japan, it is usual practice to wait three days before proceeding with funeral arrangements as in some cases the victim's paralysis has masked any signs of life and they have woken right before their own cremation!
Non-poisonous fugu
It was discovered that the poison found in fugu is not actually produced by the fugu itself, but is rather due to bacteria found in animals it regularly eats. Therefore, it is possible to artificially produce non-toxic pufferfish, and efforts are underway in some areas to commercialize them.
However, it is not easy due to various problems. The first one being the cost of equipment to maintain the temperature at the same levels as that of the fugu’s natural habitat. Another problem is the added stress to fugu when their tetrodotoxin levels are depleted which leads them to attack other fugu, making it hard to raise them with other fish. On top of that, the toxin that makes them lethal to humans actually protects them from parasites, leading to cases where their survival rate drops due to the absence of tetrodotoxin.
An argument can also be made that if non-poisonous fugu became widespread, the false belief that eating fugu and fugu insides is safe would spread as well, lowering people’s guard when coming across fugu thus increasing incident rates.
The fish you need a license to prepare
Due to its poisonous properties that require chefs to have a license to cook it.
Fugu cooking licenses are granted to those who pass a fugu handling examination, usually after having undergone apprenticeship under someone already qualified.
It should be noted that fugu cooking licenses are administered by local government (ie: prefectures, municipalities in the case of cities like Osaka or Kyoto), therefore the contents of the exam and the apprenticeship prior can differ from region to region. The course that one must complete can take longer in some places, while the exam can present itself to be more difficult in other areas.
Fugu fish at the supermarket
In prefectures where migaki fugu may be bought and sold without a special license, it's possible to find fugu at the supermarket.
Some restaurants have their own display water glass boxes within the premises
Shops and restaurants must display a sign that they have certified migaki fugu 
Fugu price – how much does fugu cost?
Expect to pay between ¥5000-¥30,000 (about US $80-$200) for a fugu dinner course comprising of fugu sashimi, fugu nabe and other puffer fish cuisine.
Fugu Sashimi
Fugu sashimi, or raw, is one of the most common ways to eat Japanese puffer fish. You might see it on fugu menus as “fugusashi” or “tessa”.
At fugu restaurants, fugu sashimi is usually cut razor thin.
The raw fugu fish can then be dipped into a dipping sauce such as shoyu (soy sauce). Although ponzu, a delicious citrus based sauce, is often used with fugu, as well as many other Japanese dishes.
Fugu No Tataki
Tataki is a Japanese cooking technique that involves searing the outside of a piece of meat or fish, so that only the very outside is cooked, while the inside remains raw.
The meat is then cut into slices. In the case of fugu no tataki, the slices are generally thicker than those presented as sashimi.
Fugu Karaage
You may know the term karaage in reference to deep-fried. karaage is actually another Japanese cooking technique and simply refers to foods (usually meat or fish) being lightly coated in flour or starch and fried in oil.
Fugu may also be fried in a tempura batter, made of flour, egg and water, giving it a lighter, crispier exterior.
Sumibiyaki Fugu
Cooking fugu on a grill over a charcoal flame gives the fish a smoky flavor. Sumibiyaki fugu may be added to the grill as-is or brushed with a sauce to enhance flavor.
Fugu Shirako
Shirako is the Japanese term for milt or the male fish genitalia containing sperm. Fugu shirako with its creamy consistency is considered to be one of the most delectable parts for fugu fish connoisseurs.
Fugu shirako may be eaten several ways, such as coated in a light tempura batter and fried, eaten raw with ponzu and wasabi.
Fugu Nabe or Tecchiri
Being a winter delicacy, fugu is widely used in nabe or hot pot, a popular dish during the colder months in Japan. Tecchiri, or fugu chirinabe, is the name given to a type of nabe that uses fugu as the feature ingredient.
Fugu nabe
The nabe pot is placed on a small gas cooker on the table, into which you boil a dashi broth and add your ingredients – such as add meat, vegetables, tofu and oden. The ingredients simmer away and stay hot during the meal. In fugu nabe, the broth is what gives the fish most of its flavor.
Fugu shabu shabu 
Another option for fugu hot pot dining. In shabu shabu, the diner takes raw ingredients and moves them back and forth in the hot broth with their chopsticks to cook them to their liking.
Fugu ojiya
Fugu ojiya is the name of a variety of zosui, or Japanese rice porridge, with fugu as the main attraction.
Zosui
It’s a common way to finish up the broth left in the nabe pot at the end of a meal. Cooked rice is added, allowing the rich dashi, now infused with the flavor of the ingredients cooked in it, in this case fugu, to permeate the rice.
Fugu skin
Some varieties of fugu are seemingly low-tox enough for the skin to be consumed too. Fugu skin is often eaten on its own as a side dish. It is cut into strips that can almost appear like glass-noodles or jelly-like in the bowl.
It can be eaten various ways – raw as sashimi, boiled, grilled or deep-fried. The deep-fried version called fugu kawa senbei or ‘fugu skin crackers', are crispy in texture and are said to be a great drinking snack, pairing well with cold beer.
Hirezake (fugu sake)
If you're wanting to not only eat fugu, but drink it too, you can try a very unique beverage called hirezake.
Hirezake (fugu sake)
Fugu fin was used to mask the inferior quality with its smoky and savory flavor, creating an interesting contrast between the smokiness of the fugu fin and the crispness of the sake. Nowadays hirezake can still be found in select bars and restaurants during winter
Fugu sushi
Fugu sushi is a slice of raw or cooked fugu atop sushi rice. To eat, it is picked up with chopsticks and the fish is gently tilted into a dipping sauce before consuming. There may also be wasabi placed under the fish, for an extra kick.
Puffer fish Facts
1-Puffer fish is an easily recognized type of fish due to ability to transform and enlarge its           body  in a split of a second. There are more than 120 species of puffer fish which live             mostly in the warm waters of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, with only 30       species  that are living in the freshwater.
2-Main feature, common for all puffer fish, is ability to ingest huge amount of water (and           air sometimes) which increases their body size and turn them into odd-looking ball-like creatures. Quick transformation scares predators.
3-Scientists believe that puffer fish developed this tactic as a method of the self-defense              because they are poor swimmers that cannot escape from the danger quickly.
4-Increase of the body size is not the only tactic used against the predators. Almost all     species of puffer fish contain toxin (called tetrodotoxin) that can be 1200 times stronger than cyanide.
5-One puffer fish contains enough toxin to kill 30 adult men.
6-Toxin is not located in all parts of the puffer fish, and certain cultures prepare puffer fish (meal called fugu in Japan) as a delicacy. Only specially trained chiefs can clean the fish properly and prepare delicious and toxin-free meal. Just one wrong cut of the fish meat can result in the death of the customer.
7-Sharks are the only species immune to the puffer fish's toxin. They can eat puffer fish     without any negative consequences.
8-Puffer fish can be discretely or brightly colored. There is often relationship between the body coloration and the amount of toxin produced by the fish (brighter colors are often associated with large quantity of toxin in the fish).
9-Puffer fish do not have scales. Their skin is thick and rough. Some species have spines on     the skin, which offer additional protection against the predators.
10-The most elastic part of their body is skin on the stomach area. When puffer fish ingests
   water, skin on the stomach expands several times of the normal size of the fish.
11-Puffer fish have four teeth that are fused in the beak-like structure. They use their teeth for opening of mussels, clams and shellfish. Puffer fish also eat algae and different types of worms and crustaceans.
12-Puffer fish have excellent eyesight. Puffer fish vary in size from one-inch-long pygmy puffer,
   to a two feet long freshwater giant puffer.
13-Puffer fish reach sexual maturity at the age of five. Male guides the female to the shallow  
   water (close to the shore) where she will release (usually) between three to seven eggs.   
   Young fish are protected by the hard egg shell that will crack as soon as they are ready to   
   hatch. After leaving the egg, young puffer fish swim toward the reef's community.
14-Although some baby puffer fish cannot be seen without magnifying glass, their body shape
    resembles those of the adult animals.
15-Average lifespan of the puffer fish is around 10 years.