Fabulous Fugu Feast

During my last trip to Tokyo, I was introduced to the guy who organizes the summer festival for his neighbourhood in Shibuya (he's the man in green riding the omikoshi in my Shibuya matsuri video). It so happens that he's also the owner of an eating establishment specializing in fugu, otherwise known as puffer fish, the fabled, highly poisonous delicacy served only by trained chefs who know how to keep their customers from dying of paralysis. So naturally I decided to dine on Narumi's fugu course (December is fugu season, after all) just so I can say that I've diced with death and lived to tell the tale.

Prior to this I'd heard from a lot of people that fugu in itself is pretty tasteless, so the only real reasons to eat it are the bragging rights afterwards. I reckon it's also a challenge for the chef to make it's otherwise bland meat appeal to the palate. In this respect I think he did really well, straight off the bat:

The appetizer was the skin of the fugu, carefully trimmed of course, set in a clear, dashi-flavoured jelly. Pretty to look at, refreshing and potentially fatal all at once. What more could you ask for in an entree?

I wasn't sure if this was from fugu as well; it was the salted and seasoned eggs of some fish. Though it looks like it might be soft, it was surprisingly crunchy and moist with a strong spicy and fishy taste.

This is probably the most traditional presentation of fugu: thin, almost transparent slices of the fish arranged on a large round platter to resemble a chrysanthemum. We were told to roll each slice up with a bit of chive and a bit of homemade mandarin flavoured ponzu.

When this one came out I was a little worried that we weren't going to survive the evening. I'd heard that the reproductive organs of the fish contained the most poison, but then the proprietress assured us that it was only the ovaries and liver that were poisonous, not the milt (fish jizz, if you like). Heck, if I was eating something unusual and possibly deadly, then eating the essence of a male fish isn't that icky in comparison. The texture was like a firm, springy tofu, and a dip in ponzu got rid of any fishy taste. Not bad, really.

Even though I know it's really bad for me, I just *loooove* fried food. The crispy, yet succulent fugu karaage was easily my favourite course, and probably the one that was finished the quickest. I would have been happy if the entire evening was filled with nothing but fried fugu, but I suppose that would have defeated the purpose of the meal, plus I might have overdosed on whatever traces of poison are left in the fish. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

The chef wastes nothing in his preparation, since it's an expensive delicacy after all, so he put all the bones into the stock of the hotpot, together with vegetables, mushrooms and udon. All the better to extract whatever flavour there is from the fish. The red and green things in the pot are slices of gluten, coloured and shaped to look like autumn maple leaves. Not for wheat allergy sufferers, but it sure adds a nice seasonal touch to the dish.

Just when I thought he'd finished with the whole course, this was brought out about 15 minutes later. Once again, so that nothing goes to waste, the chef used the leftover broth from the hotpot to make a light fugu and egg porridge as the final course. Unfortunately I was way too full from the previous courses to eat much of it, but it was a nice way to end the meal.

The question remains though, did I feel the tingle in my mouth from the poison? I had been told to eat slowly so that my body had time to process the toxin, but I think I might have gone too slowly for my mouth to feel numb. I might have to try the course again to see if I can get the sensation down. Next year when fugu season rolls around again, I guess. ^^