Poison without an antidote – what’s so special about fugu fish (7 photos)

Everyone has heard of fugu. A fish, one piece of which can kill a person, and one fish is enough to kill 30 to 40 people. Moreover, there is no antidote for its toxin. Do you also have a question, why eat fugu at all?





Japan eats everything because there is nothing else to eat

Although now, after numerous trials and errors, it has become known that it is not the fugu itself that is poisonous, which was cooked incorrectly, but the poison is contained in its liver, catfish, blood and eyes. That is, you just need to cut it up very carefully so as not to contaminate the pure fish meat with tetrodotoxin.



Here, have a bite, dear. In fact, they show that it is so fresh, that it is alive

This requires truly subtle craftsmanship, because the poison of fugu is 1200 times more dangerous than the same cyanide. And before, people were poisoned not just by fugu, but by cutting boards on which they cut fugu, and then accidentally cut vegetables. And why suffer like that? Because Japan was fed by the sea for a long time, due to the small number of fields for agriculture. They had to learn to stubbornly eat everything.





"No need, uncle!"

In Europe they didn't bother and banned eating and selling all fish of this type of pufferfish, which can be dangerous. But in Japan they stubbornly continued to eat it. Several times in history after particularly large outbreaks of deaths in Japan they banned eating fugu. But the last ban was lifted in 1870, apparently society had become civilized enough to wash knives properly and not die accidentally.



Another beautiful presentation of fugu, look how much lime

Fugu is used to make purely Japanese sashimi (finely sliced ​​fresh fish) with various sauces. The Japanese really like how white and tender thinly sliced ​​fugu looks, it's an aesthetic thing after all. And these dishes began to be prepared 4 thousand years ago, as historians say. Raise your hand, who tried fugu? Did you like it? To me, it tastes JUST FISH. I mean, there are much tastier products in Japanese cuisine (like wagyu, which in my opinion is no tastier than regular beef).



This is how they serve it. Beautifully. But other fish are also beautifully prepared!

That is, you are taking a risk purely for the sake of adrenaline, and you are spending money on a special dish, but the real taste pleasure is... like from ordinary fish. Even in Japan, eel is cooked better. I tried only one piece, since in a decent place it is very expensive, I was treated, it was inconvenient to eat a lot. They say that connoisseurs love it for the slight sensation of that very toxin on the tongue, from which the tongue goes a little numb. And this effect can last for almost a day. I did not feel it, apparently the food is not up to par.



Ancient engraving - fugu and daikon, as if our ancestors were telling us how to cook it

So fugu is not eaten by gourmets, it is eaten by show-offs. Moreover, in restaurants now fugu can easily cost 1000 dollars. Moreover, in brochures they often boast that they cook tiger fugu, which is considered by science to be the most poisonous. NOT TASTY, but the most poisonous. So they sell danger and poisonousness, not taste pleasure, and they do not even hide it.



Fugu on a bed of ice at a Japanese fish market

So this is a legal way to eat poison, paralyze your tongue a little, and play Japanese "Russian roulette" for a lot of money, that's what it's like to go eat fugu in Japan. Why do you think they eat it?