Blowfish or, as the Japanese call it, Fugu is a delicacy that can contain poison enough to be the end of two dozen people at a time in just one bowl of fish. It is yet a delicacy in Japan and one so sought after that if the Fugu dinner costs you upwards of 200$ per person, don’t be surprised.

We thought the blowfish looked cute in ‘Shark Tale’, it did, but Fugu is just as lethal towards it predators whether dead or alive. When alive it can blow into a ball covered with spikes that can be the last bite of a bigger fish if it does make the mistake of trying to eat Fugu. When dead, it requires especially trained and licensed cooks to prepare it since it contains numerous toxins which can result in instant death if eaten when prepared the wrong way.

Eating a dish prepared by licensed chefs sounds fun, but during their license test, these chefs get to prepare various species of Fugu, which have toxins in eleven different parts of its body and the poisons are placed differently in their bodies for different species. Once they are done cooking, they are asked to eat their prepared dish. It probably would not be a consolation to those chefs to be told that they are bound to get a certificate either way, even if they failed in removing the toxins completely.

The way to the license for these chefs is not at all easy. They have to keep at preparing the Fugu for 10 straight years before they can get their certificate in the eleventh year. Quite a few succumb to the pressure; some even have to get psychological counseling because of the pressures of the job. Once prepared, even the toxins removed can not be thrown in the garbage; they are enclosed in double plastic layers before being removed in sealed boxes to dumps where the toxins are destroyed since they are not eliminated by heat.

In 1958, more than 175 deaths were reported after fugu meals, and until the government stepped in the death toll continued to increase. Even with the care that is taken in licensing the chefs now, there are still a few of those that die after eating Fugu. Has this lowered the number of people wanting a taste of Fugu? Not likely. There are restaurants in Japan which serve exclusive Fugu dishes. The better the restaurant the more the demand; for instance, there is Shunsagami that was established in 1936 serving 60 different Fugu dishes, Tsukitei started serving Fugu dishes 3 years ago but since then the reservations there are hard to come by because of the popularity of Fugu meals…and we did say the prices matched the demand, costing 38 thousand JY and above.

If you are still up for a Fugu meal, enjoy it in the traditional atmosphere of low mat seating and do it in the winter from mid November to mid April, when the fish is said to be at its least toxic and tastiest. Reservations to dine at Fugu restaurants is similarly hardest to find during the winter, if you do manage it though, there are restaurants that keep in house fish tanks where you can choose your meal before it is cooked. Typically cooked in broth, fugu has a firm smooth and chewy texture. The most popular dish remains Fugu Sashi though, which is raw Fugu sliced so thinly that is becomes almost transparent. Made from Torafugu, Fugu Sashi, served with a sour citrus sauce and other accessories, costs around three to six thousand JY per person. If raw is not your type, there are other cooked variations as well, but the question remains; should we recommend life insurance before dinner?

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