misc/800px_Fugu_in_TankWell, after being here almost a month, I’ve experienced a new first. Myself and two other guys from work decided to participate in a Fugu dinner. For those of you who are unaware, fugu (フグ – Japanese for blowfish) has a reputation for being a potentially fatal meal. The liver and intestines of the blowfish contain a chemical called “tetrodotoxin“, which, according to Wikipedia, is “about 1200 times deadlier than cyanide”.

The trick to eating the fish without asphyxiating is to prepare the fish without contaminating the meat with the poison. In Tokyo, fugu chefs must have a license, which is earned after being trained for years to prepare the delicacy, and passing an extremely rigorous test. We found a restaurant in Akasaka that serves only fugu, and after setting our affairs in order, we stepped in the door.

The woman who greeted us was very kind, and escorted us upstairs to a private booth. Before entering the booth, we all removed our shoes and sat at a sort of sunken table. The table was the height of a low coffee table, but under the table was a 2-foot drop where your legs could relax. Two of us order kire-sake, which is a special sake (é…’) with grilled fugu fins in it. It was interesting, but I didn’t really enjoy it, and didn’t finish it.

We decided that since this was a first for all of us, we “splurged” and ordered a teishoku (定食), or set meal, which had about five different courses. The first course came out, and we were introduced to this fish straight up and raw, with fugu sashimi, served in a traditional flower pattern. It was excellent. It was a bit chewier than your average sashimi, but it had a subtle flavor, and I enjoyed it immensely. The server then returned with a bowl of chopped up scallions covering slivered fugu skin in a soy-based dressing. Again, it was chewy, but delicious. (FYI, the blowfish does not have scales… just a rubbery skin.)

When she brought out the sashimi, she brought out a wicker basket, which she placed in the center of the table, and in that, she put a paper bowl a metal disk, and a piece of seaweed. She then filled the bowl from a water pitcher, and turned the stove on. Apparently, it worked by heating the metal disk in the water, a before we knew it, we had a boiling basket of water in front of us.

While we were enjoying our sashimi and skin, our server entered with a large plate of cabbage, mushrooms, and fugu, and some bowls of dipping sauce. She instructed us to use the accompanying tongs to put the fish and vegetables into the stew, and then serve it.

After she walked away, we sat there looking at the fish. It looked like they had cut up a whole fish, and we could identify the head, and some other parts. As we were looking at it, one guy commented that there must be a draft hitting the fish, since it was moving in the breeze… then we realized it wasn’t a breeze. The fish was still twitching. It was just cut up and served. We all couldn’t speak for a few seconds, then I said, “Well, at least it’s fresh!”, and started putting pieces into the broth.

I’m not trying to sound repetitious, but it was excellent. The fugu doesn’t have a strong flavor, so it was affected by the mushrooms, cabbage, and the sauce. It didn’t have a fishy texture, but was almost like a very tender chicken. Later, she brought out fried fugu, and this tasted and felt a lot like frog legs.

After we were done, I commented that it was good, but it wasn’t exactly filling. No worries, though, as the server came back with a bowl of cooked rice and an egg. She pured the rice into the leftover broth, and stirred it up… then she scrambled the egg, and dropped that into the rice soup, creating a thick egg-drop soup. She then gave us bowls and served this. It hit the spot… after the tasty fish, the soup really filled us up and was the perfect filler for the meal.

After serving tea and strawberry ice cream, we were definitely pleased. I thought my Â¥6000 yen ($53.69) for the course was well-spent. It’s an experience that I’d recommend to anyone coming to the country.