Page 99 - WDT Winter 2018 japan

apanese love the exotic, especially in cuisine and
nothing exemplifies that like their passion for eating
one of most deadly fish in the world. In America we
Jknow them as blowfish or pufferfish; in Japan, they’re
called fugu. Their unique toxins have killed around two
dozen Japanese diners since 2000. Most of the victims
were clueless fishermen who tried to prepare and cook
their own; there are no known cases of diner deaths when
the fugu is prepared by a licensed Fugu Master. One
woman though got very sick after eating a tiny bit fugu
liver in a top Tokyo restaurant.
A fugu thrill ride can cost $100 to $200 or more. The
fish isn’t that expensive, but the services of chefs who
know what they are doing are most pricey. Most have three
to five years of training before they can even apply for a
fugu-preparation license.
Fugu sashimi can be chewy and isn’t distinctively
flavored, other than death-defying adrenalin rush that over-
whelms diners before the first taste. And like the meat of
venomous rattlesnakes, it is said that cooked fugu tastes
like chicken. Some adventurers settle for slivers of fugu
filet prepared as sashimi, seared, or in soup, but extreme
fugu enthusiasts prefer fugu testicles just slightly charred
with a torch. These tasty tidbits cost about $250 a pound
wholesale.
Did we try fugu on this trip? Are you crazy? We don’t
particularly care to try testicles of any origin and wouldn’t
want to risk our lives for something that tastes like KFC?

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