Watch a Master Chef Filet a Poisonous Blowfish in 3 Minutes

We’ve discussed Fugu and its origins in detail here on Fishing Fury, but I don’t ever recall posting a video of a live fugu being filet by a master chef. Emphasis on the live part by the way! Perhaps not the video for those who are upset seeing their food moving after its head gets chopped off.

Fish A Japanese Obsession

I found this amazing documentary on YouTube about the Japanese obsession with fish. From start to finish it is very fun, tongue in cheek, and culturally informative. I had a great time watching it and dreaming of visiting and fishing all these places, but I couldn’t help but notice they left out Japanese bass fishing!

You don’t have to watch all nine parts if you don’t want to, but I put some descriptions and quotes in so you can get right to what sounds most interesting to you. However if you do, and I hope you do, watch the whole thing I guarantee you will learn some amazing things about Japan.

Part 1 of 9 : Here we meet the host and his team of local Japanese people that will help him through out his journey. Most of all we meet Aki, his guide. The first Japanese fishing experience is a restaurant with an interesting twice. There you can fish a pond in the middle of the restaurant and have your catch for dinner. The next day they head to to the Tsukiji fish market in search of Bluefin Tuna.

In the west we try to get as far away as possible from the idea that our pray was once alive. And in Japan they celebrate it.

Continue reading “Fish A Japanese Obsession”…

May I See Your Fugu License?

In case you ever eat fugu, make sure you ask the chef to see his fugu license.

Seven men in Tokyo ended up in the hospital after eating some fugu that was not prepared correctly. They developed limb paralysis and had trouble breathing before they finally started to lose consciousness and were rushed to hospital. Luckily none of them have died.

The owner and chef had no formal training on the correct preparation of fugu and could face charges of professional negligence.

Fugu Facts:
- Blowfish poison, called tetrodotoxin, is nearly 100 times more poisonous than potassium cyanide, according to the Ishikawa Health Service Association

- It can cause death within an hour and a half after consumption

- Three people died and 44 others were sickened by blowfish poisoning in 2007 — most of them after catching the fish and cooking it at home — according to the Health Ministry

via Moldy Chum

Fugu Fail

In the past we’ve discussed catching and eating Fugu with Adam Guy, but these would be the first photos we’ve seen of a fish getting the wrong portion of Fugu.

Looks like this Red Snapper bit off more than it could chew! My question is what do you think happened to the animals that ate the snappers flesh, do they get poisoned too?

The photo was taken in Fiji by Jack Hynes, I found this photo and more on his Flickr page.