Exploring unique delicacies is fun and exciting until you get to know that the current meal you are having can be your last. This may sound baseless but there is a popular dish in Japan which can actually cause death, if not prepared cautiously. It's a dish for which the chef has to undergo tremendous training for a year and if he fails in it, the license of making the dish will not be issued to him. This dish is so dangerous that even the slightest mistake in cooking can lead to death of the person who eats it. The name is Fugu fish, an expensive dish of Japan which is eaten in winter.
This dish is only available in some top restaurants in the Asian country mostly Japan and China and there are regulations by the government for selling it. Also known as pufferfish, Fugu is a lethally poisonous species of fish that paralyzes the muscles and can eventually kill the victim. This fish is known to inflate its throat like a balloon whenever there is any hint of danger. According to Fugu Research Institute, twenty-three people have died since 2000 after eating fugu.
The liver of fugu fish is said to be the most poisonous organ, only an expert chef knows the real trick of removing it. To remove the toxin accumulated in the liver of fugu fish, a separate four-year training and license is required after completing the chef course in Japan.
They wash the fish meat at least forty times beforehand to remove the poison. After that, the meat is boiled until all the poison inside it is gone. It is extremely necessary to clean all the blood from the flesh of the fugu as even one drop of blood left in the flesh can prove fatal. There are special knives to prepare fugu, which have wooden handles with blades tempered by a swordsmith.
After taking it out of the fish tank they are placed in a special metal tray marked ‘non-edible’, then the skin is removed. The actual process starts with cutting the guts which is the most poisonous, followed by liver and intestine which are poisonous too. It is usually presented raw on the table as sashimi, where fugu is cut into very thin slices and plated as flower.
It is popular in the country because of its distinctive taste and texture. Another reason for its appeal to Japanese diners is the thrill of eating ‘The Death’. But if there's any death after eating the dish, it can cause the chef to lose his license of making fugu fish, along with a penalty and imprisonment.