Fugu
Fugu in Japanese, bogeo or bok in Korean, and hétún in Standard Modern Chinese refers to pufferfish, normally of the genus Takifugu, Lagocephalus, or Sphoeroides, or a porcupinefish of the genus Diodon, or a dish prepared from these fish.
Fugu possesses a potentially lethal poison known as tetrodotoxin, therefore necessitating meticulous preparation to prevent the fish from being contaminated. Restaurant preparation of fugu is strictly controlled by law in Japan, Korea and several other countries, and only chefs who have qualified after three or more years of rigorous training are allowed to prepare the fish. Domestic preparation occasionally leads to accidental death.
Throughout Japan, fugu is served as sashimi and nabemono. The liver, widely thought to be the most flavorful part, was traditionally served as a dish named fugu-kimo, but it is also the most poisonous, and serving this organ in restaurants was banned in Japan in 1984.
In East Asian cuisine, fugu has emerged as a highly renowned delicacy, establishing itself as one of the most celebrated dishes in Japanese and Korean cuisine. Fugu has also been gradually emerging as a prized seafood delicacy in Chinese cuisine.
Diversity
There are close to 200 species in the family Tetraodontidae, a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the order Tetraodontiformes. Nonetheless, only some of them are eaten and traded as "fugu".Toxicity
Fugu contains lethal amounts of the poison tetrodotoxin in its organs, especially the liver, ovaries, eyes, and skin. The poison, a sodium channel blocker, paralyzes the muscles while the victim stays fully conscious; the poisoned victim is unable to breathe and eventually dies from asphyxiation. There is no known antidote for fugu poison. The standard treatment is to support the respiratory and circulatory systems until the poison is metabolized and excreted by the victim's body.Researchers have determined that a fugu's tetrodotoxin comes from eating other animals infested with tetrodotoxin-laden bacteria, to which the fish develops insensitivity over time. Whether tetrodotoxin is sequestered from or produced by symbiotic bacteria is still debated. As such, efforts have been made in research and aquaculture to allow farmers to produce safe fugu. Farmers now produce poison-free fugu by keeping the fish away from the bacteria - see below.
Tetrodotoxin
is a natural product that has been isolated not only from pufferfish, but also octopuses, crabs, shellfish, frogs, newts, and other aquatic animals. It is a potent neurotoxin that shuts down electrical signaling in nerves; it acts via interaction with components of the sodium channels in the cell membranes of those cells. Its ability to cross the blood–brain barrier is uncertain. In the case of the pufferfish host, at least, their insusceptibility to the poison is thought to result from cysteine asperagine amino acid substitutions in the sequence of their specific types of sodium channel proteins.TTX is not produced by pufferfish and the other aquatic animals from which it has been isolated. Rather, bacteria such as Alteromonas, Shewanella, and Vibrio species infect or cohabit with the animal species from which TTX is isolated, and a bacterial biosynthetic pathway for its production has been rationalized.
In animal studies with mice, the median lethal dose of TTX was found to be 232 μg per kg body weight. Tetrodotoxin levels are affected by preparation ; it is, however, reportedly not significantly affected by cooking.
Despite its toxicity, TTX has clinical therapeutic applications, being evaluated in phase II and III clinical trials to be effective for treating cancer-related pain without increasing serious adverse events.
Consumption
History
The inhabitants of Japan have eaten fugu for centuries. Fugu bones have been found in several shell middens, called kaizuka, from the Jōmon period that date back more than 2,300 years. The Tokugawa shogunate prohibited the consumption of fugu in Edo and its area of influence. It became common again as the power of the Shōgunate weakened. In western regions of Japan, where the government's influence was weaker and fugu was easier to obtain, various cooking methods were developed to safely eat them. During the Meiji Era, fugu was again banned in many areas. According to one fugu chef in Tokyo, the Emperor of Japan has never eaten fugu due to an unspecified "centuries old ban".In China, the use of the pufferfish for culinary purposes was already well-established by the Song dynasty as one of the "three delicacies of the Yangtze", alongside saury and Reeve's shad, and appears in the writings of the polymath Shen Kuo as well as in the encyclopedic work Taiping Guangji. The scholar-statesman Su Shi famously remarked that the taste is worthy of death.
In 1774 James Cook during his second voyage, together with Johann Reinhold Forster and Georg Forster, ate some liver of a fish bartered from a native of an island in New Caledonia, likely a pufferfish. All three suffered symptoms of poisoning but survived.
Species
The torafugu, or tiger pufferfish, is the most prestigious edible species and the most poisonous. Other species are also eaten; for example, Higanfugu, Shōsaifugu, and Mafugu. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan provides a list that shows which species' body parts can be consumed. The list names safe genera including pufferfish of the Lagocephalus and Sphoeroides genera and the related porcupinefish of the family Diodontidae.Regulations
Japan
Strict fishing regulations are now in place to protect fugu populations from depletion. Most fugu is now harvested in the spring during the spawning season and then farmed in floating cages in the Pacific Ocean. The largest wholesale fugu market in Japan is in Shimonoseki.Fugu prices rise in autumn and peak in winter, the best season, because they fatten to survive the cold. Live fish arrive at a restaurant, surviving in a large tank, usually prominently displayed. Prepared fugu is also often available in grocery stores, which must display official license documents. Whole fish may not be sold to the general public.
Since 1958, fugu chefs must earn a license to prepare and sell fugu to the public. This involves a two- or three-year apprenticeship. The licensing examination process consists of a written test, a fish-identification test, and a practical test, preparing and eating the fish. Only about 35 percent of the applicants pass. Small miscalculations result in failure or, in rare cases, death. Consumers believe that this training process makes it safer to eat fugu in restaurants or markets. Non-poisonous fugu can be produced by keeping the fish away from the bacteria that makes them poisonous.
Since October 2012, restaurants in Japan have been permitted to sell fugu that has been prepared and packaged by a licensed practitioner elsewhere.
The Saga Prefecture in Japan has petitioned the Food Safety Commission of Japan three times to reconsider its ban on fugu liver, stating that its farmed fugu is non-toxic. The FSCJ has rejected the proposals thrice due to "data insufficient to prove safety". NYT reported in 2008 that there is a well-known underground fugu-kimo scene in another Japanese town, Usuki, Ōita.
Korea
Fugu bones have been found in Gimhae and at other archeological sites in coastal villages. During the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties, fugu was widely consumed. The penal law specified prison for the cooks of fugu if a customer died, although standardised qualifications for fugu cooking did not exist.After 1948, the Government of Korea restricted the cooking of fugu, and qualifications for who can cook fugu were established. Fugu chefs must be qualified if they are hired by a restaurant or open their own.
The qualification exam contains both a written and a practical test. The written portion covers the Fugu's poison, hygiene, basic food safety, and of Korean cuisine. The practical test allows chefs fifty-six minutes to remove the poisonous parts of fugu and prepare raw fish, bulgogi, and soup. The qualifying score is 60 out of 100.
China
China began issuing trial permits for serving fugu to restaurants in 2003. In 2016, the Chinese government abolished the permit system and allowed all restaurants to buy and serve farmed fish, now widely available. By 2019, such restaurants have become commonplace. China also allowed ordinary households to buy processed whole fish online starting in 2017.Cost
In the case of torafugu, the most common fugu, the cost is between JP¥1000-JP¥4000 per kilogram, depending on the season and quality, as of 2022. The expense encourages chefs to slice the fish very carefully to obtain the largest possible amount of meat. A special knife, called fugu hiki, is usually stored separately from other knives.In China, packaged farmed fugu cost CN¥330 per kilogram as of 2023.
Treatment
The symptoms of tetrodotoxin poisoning include dizziness, exhaustion, headache, nausea, and difficulty of breathing. The person remains conscious but cannot speak or move. In high doses, breathing stops and asphyxiation follows.There is no known antidote, and treatment consists of emptying the stomach, administering activated charcoal to bind the toxin, and putting the person on life support until the poison has worn off. Toxicologists have been working for years on developing an antidote for tetrodotoxin.
Incidents
Between 1996 and 2006, statistics from the Tokyo Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health indicate 20–44 annual incidents of fugu poisoning in Japan, some affecting multiple diners. Annually, 34–64 people were hospitalized and 0–6 died, with an average fatality rate of 6.8% of those hospitalized. Of the 23 incidents reported in Tokyo from 1993 through 2006, only one took place in a restaurant; all others involved people catching and eating the fish. Poisonings through amateur preparation can result from confusion between types of puffer, as well as improper methods. Some may also represent deliberate suicide attempts; Engelbert Kaempfer, a German physician who resided in Japan in the 1690s, reported that an unusually toxic variety of puffer was sometimes sought out by individuals who wished to take their own lives.Much higher figures were reported in earlier years, peaking in 1958 when 176 people died from eating fugu in a single year. According to the Fugu Research Institute, 50% of the victims were poisoned by eating the liver, 43% from eating the ovaries, and 7% from eating the skin. One of the most famous victims was the Kabuki actor and "Living National Treasure" Bandō Mitsugorō VIII, who in 1975 died after eating four servings of fugu kimo, the sale of which was prohibited by local ordinances at the time. Bandō claimed to be able to resist the poison, but died several hours after returning to his hotel.
On August 23 2007, a doctor in Thailand reported that unscrupulous fish sellers sold puffer meat disguised as salmon, which caused fifteen deaths over three years. About 115 people were taken to different hospitals. Fugu had been banned in Thailand five years prior to the deaths.
In March 2008, a fisherman in the Philippines died and members of his family became ill from pufferfish. The previous year, four people in the same town died and five others had fallen ill after eating the same variety of pufferfish.
In February 2009, a Malaysian fisherman died and four others were hospitalized after they consumed a meal of pufferfish when they ran out of food while at sea.
In November 2011, a chef of two-Michelin star "Fugu Fukuji" in Tokyo was suspended from his post. The chef served fugu liver to a customer who, despite being warned of the risks, specifically asked that it be provided. The 35-year-old customer subsequently required hospital treatment for mild symptoms of tetrodotoxin paralysis, but made a full recovery.
Five men were poisoned at a restaurant in Wakayama in March 2015 after specifically asking for liver.
In December 2020, 3 people in the Philippines died, while 4 more were hospitalized after eating pufferfish.
In March 2023, an elderly woman and her husband in Malaysia died after consuming pufferfish purchased from a fishmonger.
In January 2024, a Brazilian man, 46, died after eating pufferfish given to him by a friend.