Posted on 05/18/2012 2:54:31 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
The Japanese delicacy fugu, or blowfish, is so poisonous that the smallest mistake in its preparation could be fatal. But Tokyo's city government is planning to ease restrictions that allow only highly trained and licensed chefs to serve the dish.
Kunio Miura always uses his special knives to prepare fugu - wooden-handled with blades tempered by a swordsmith to a keen edge. Before he starts work in his kitchen they are brought to him by an assistant, carefully stored in a special box.
Miura-san, as he is respectfully known, has been cutting up blowfish for 60 years but still approaches the task with caution. A single mistake could mean death for a customer.
Fugu is an expensive delicacy in Japan and the restaurants that serve it are among the finest in the country. In Miura-san's establishment a meal starts at $120 (£76) a head, but people are willing to pay for the assurance of the fugu chef licence mounted on his wall, yellowed now with age. He is one of a select guild authorised by Tokyo's city government to serve the dish.
When he begins work the process is swift, and mercifully out of sight of the surviving fugu swimming in their tank by the restaurant door.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Driving through the fields (especially on a motorcycle) the morning after they have fertilized is not a pleasant experience. (To which I can attest -- personal experience...)
They even sell special disinfectant chemicals to be added to the wash/rinse water for use on cleaning fruits and vegetables.
US GIs have lots of tales about folks who tried to take shortcuts on that sanitation issue... (Ever hear of the "GI Trots"?)
They're all feminists...
There's a bar in Raleigh NC I used to frequent; great crowd, great burgers.
The owner suspended blowfish behind the bar. It has all the guts removed and tanned somehow to preserve it in its inflated state. A small light is installed in it and it glows through it's translucent skin. Been there as long as I can remember.
Connoisseur that I am, I asked the waitress if they'd sell it. She said "you wouldn't believe how many customers ask me that."
Just so you know, if the government will let you.
Calamari!! Yum!!!
“Fan-fugu-tastic!”
Many die...tlyel and ellel.
No “A” sign = DON’T EAT HERE!
I thought they gave up doing that years ago.
I’d rather test my culinary fate with a White Castle cheeseburger and onion rings.
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Hilarious. Given the rigorous (until now I guess) training the blowfish guys had to endure, compared to white castle food preparers, I’m betting the odds are better with the blowfish from a health and safety standpoint.
I guess the blowfish we used to catch in the surf at the Jersey shore are different.
We sometimes fried them up for breakfast.
THIS appears to be the thing that professional fugu chefs are up in arms about. The restaurants that served this ready prepared fugu would themselves only need their own chefs to have a passing familiarity with fugu, because it had been previously prepared by a pro. It's more like a protest for employment security for professional fugu chefs, as this system would allow one professional fugu chef to support multiple restaurants.
“I’d scrute one.”
Been there, done that.
“Can’t you see that my capable hands are BUSY?!?”
:)
It could be a different species. IIRC there is talk about genetically engineered farmed fugu that would be perfectly safe. But then it wouldn’t have any more appeal in Japan’s foofoo fish dishes than a carp.
Oh... and IIRC even the present fugu only gets the poison from microorganisms in the water it lives in. If one is raised in water without these microorganisms, the fugu does not have the poison either.
Love squid!!! Maybe its a southern thing, but is served alot in Florida. Calamari.. greek grub..
Those things have a bigger liver than I.
I think that sack he removes at 0:56 has all the guts inside not just the liver.
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