April 29, 2008

To Die For I’d been told that trust was the most crucial element involved when choosing a fugu chef. It was like selecting a heart surgeon or a private pilot. “The fugu chef has your life in his hands,” one of my Japanese friends had said. Which is why my first impulse, upon greeting Mr. Naohisa Hashimoto, is to turn around, in the most diplomatic possible way, of course, and run screaming back to my hotel.
posted by Nickdanger 15 years ago
  • Alzheimer's George. We discussed this once before, mid-thread. My use of the cutting edge Mofi search feature turns up nothing, but I remember talking about this and Gomichild chiming in that she had indeed partaken once in a blowfish feast.
  • Gomichild to the thread, Gomichild to the thread... Please read this article and tell us if the guy is full of shit or not.
  • Haven't read the full article yet, but I don't think he's full of shit. Any one else catch the Fugu episode of Glutton for Punishment? Quite a funny episode... Bob Blummer had to prove his skills at preparing Fugu after learning how to prepare the fish on a 5-day crash-course. After he prepared the fugu, he had to serve it to his teacher and some other guests. They all refused to take the first bite - - insisting that Bob eat it first. They proceeded to sit and wait for 20 minutes, to see if Bob started to exhibit any of the side-effects of injesting the fugu toxin. They did not begin to eat until the "all-clear" signal was given.
  • The interpreter Shinji's macabre sense of humor really cracked me up.
  • "The famous delicacy must be prepared right or it will kill, with a toxin 1000 times more poisonous than cyanide. Chefs spend 7 years in training to be licensed to do this." From the video it looks like you only get a couple pieces of sashimi from an entire fish. I wonder what they do with the remainder.
  • According to the article, they toss the innards and anything that touched the innards. And by toss I mean the literally lock it into some sort of disposal container and take it to a government sanctioned incinerator. Apparently enough people have died from eating out of fugu contaminated dumpsters that they don't want to risk it.
  • A fitting use for fugu innards would be as a stuffing for ortolans.
  • So, uhm, is it the flavor or the "living on the edge" of it that's the draw? I'm guessing this is strictly for the thrill seekers.
  • Trial by fugu...
  • Islander FTW! and them I'm thinkin' we stuff the whole shebang into a TURDUCKEN!
  • When I was a kid (60) yrs' ago, we used to catch blowfish in Barnegat Bay (New Jersey) We were warned they were poisonous and would kill if improperly cleaned. I don't remember the details, but we would catch 50/60 of the little guys and have a big cookout. Each 1/2-3/4 pound fish would yield what we called a drumstick. A backbone with a large marshmallow sized piece of meat attached. As sweet a dish as I have ever tasted. (no one ever became ill to the best of my knowledge)
  • One fish, no fish, Suck fish, blowfish.
  • Nippur, supposedly the Japanese blowfish are poisonous because of their diet. They routinely snack on some kind of horrifying shellfish that's replete with poisons. So, presumably, the lack of NJ blowfish death was due to them having a different diet.
  • All I can say is "meh" I'm afraid. I've had fugu a couple of times - it's not such a big deal. I'm not that fond of it actually - I find the actual fish rather bland. The baked tail of the fugu in sake can be yummy though. Most fugu deaths do not happen in restaurants anyway - but rather by people catching them and preparing them incorrectly at home, or simply mistaking the fish for another.
  • Also it tastes better grilled than in sashimi form. Forgot to add more people die from eating mochi than fugu in any given year. In fact more people die from suffocating in their bedding - so just think about THAT when you go to turn in tonight. \(^_^)/
  • Read At Death's Duvet, my harrowing tale of one man's lonely battle with the perils of extreme laziness.
  • So, did you have the farm raised fugu or the wild caught stuff, gomi?
  • One place I went it was the wild caught stuff. I wouldn't know the difference just from the taste mind you....
  • I hear ya' Abbie! In fact more people die from suffocating in their bedding Hmmmm, suffocating? I always thought they died from extreme sleep satisfaction. *cuddles cozily in her comfy comforter* What's a moshi, and why would you die from eating it?
  • Moshis are this sort of chocolate-covered ball of rusty razors. Man, the Japanese are weird.
  • seriously, how can mochi kill a person?
  • Mochi is pounded rice cake. Old people tend to choke on it. Recommended first aid for choking on mochi is to stuck a vacuum cleaner in the persons mouth.
  • *not stuck - stick looks for preview button
  • I'm reminded of the scene from Tampopo where the old man chokes, and is saved by the vacuum... Also, the konnyaku treats were "notorious" for similar episodes of children choking.
  • Oh, mochi, not moshi. My mistake.