What is fugu sushi

The fish is illegal in the European Union and is cleaned and stripped of most toxins before shipment to the United States, where only a dozen chefs are licensed to serve it. And fugu appears on his menu for several months in the winter, when blowfish are in season. Walking into Sushi Zen, I felt like I was joining a game of Russian roulette—my stomach was, quite literally, in knots.

But as soon as I sat down in front of Suzuki, my fears were dispelled. This is a man with magic hands. He fearlessly shreds a cucumber into uniform matchsticks, using a knife the length of his forearm, in the blink of an eye.

He tosses nori over burning charcoal, bare-fingered, to give his hand rolls the perfect crunch. He whips clumps of rice into classically formed sushi nigiri within seconds. He scores a piece of squid so carefully that, when he breaks out his blowtorch, each tiny square of flesh curls into a perfect delicate spiral under the heat.

This was precision like I had never seen. The slightly tough skin added a welcome bit of texture to the otherwise soft jelly, with a salty, almost smoky flavor.

I swallowed. No tingling, no numbness. So far, so good. Then came the fugu sushi, with a delicate swab of radish and pepper with shredded scallions perched atop. Chopsticks ready; round two. I took a bite. The fugu was tough, unusually tough, halfway between a white fish and a squid. And with a mild fishiness, it lacked almost any flavor of its own. The radish and scallion, however, brightened the bite right up.

Suzuki leaves most fish unadorned, but for a dab of wasabi and brush of soy sauce; the fugu, however, needed a little something extra. There are varied accounts of the number of deaths attributed to fugu poisoning each year. Often these deaths, which range from possibly 10 to over people a year, depending upon what account you read, are caused when unlicensed or amateur chefs try to prepare this dish themselves.

Some people have suggested the poison has been used in Voodoo to create the so-called zombies: people who seem dead and then appear to rise from the dead.

These claims are unproven. Scientists have developed a nonpoisonous variant of pufferfish, which has been accomplished by feeding the fish a special diet. By raising fish in a controlled environment, a species of the pufferfish seems completely free of toxicity. Some people do wonder whether removing the poison makes the food less attractive, since some people get a certain thrill out of eating a fish that could potentially cause death, and contend that ingestion of minute amounts of the poison is actually part of the attraction to pufferfish meals.

Tricia has a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and has been a frequent DelightedCooking contributor for many years. She is especially passionate about reading and writing, although her other interests include medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion. Tricia lives in Northern California and is currently working on her first novel.

Fugu is a delicacy which only licensed chefs are allowed to prepare in Japan. An approximately three year apprenticeship is required before a chef is allowed to take the examination to ensure they have the proper skills to prepare the dish safely. Due to the specialty nature of the dish, a chef is careful to prepare the fish gathering the most meat possible, and a special knife called a fugu hiki is employed for the task. The fish is usually served as sashimi, called fugu sashi , or tessa , and is sliced thinly and placed so that the pattern of the plate is visible through the fish.

The organs are sometimes available as fugu no shirako , however they are specially treated to remove the toxins and are not commonly available. The poisonous nature of the dish comes from marine microorganisms that produce the neurotoxin, which travels up to food chain, eventually finding its way into the puffer fish.

While the fish is itself immune to the toxin, it nevertheless concentrates the substance in its organs and skin, much to the chagrin of would-be predators, or sushi enthusiasts.