Fugu: A User's Guide To The World's Most Dangerous Dinner (VIDEO)

In this week's New York magazine, fearless food critic Adam Platt travels to Japan to dine on the notorious fugu fish, which, if not properly prepared, is so lethal that a six-pound serving "has enough poison to take out at least 32 healthy adults, " Tom Parker Bowles, author of The Year of Eating Dangerously, says in the article. And yet it's still served in some restaurants. Which makes one wonder, what's fugu all about? Why do people still eat it? Could it possibly taste that good? To help answer these burning questions, we whipped up a guide to the world's most dangerous dinner:

What makes fugu so deadly?

Fugu contains lethal amounts of the poison tetrodotoxin in the internal organs, especially the liver and ovaries, and also the skin. Therefore, only specially licensed chefs are allowed to prepare and sell fugu to the public, and the consumption of the liver and ovaries is forbidden.

Who dies from eating fugu?

A number of people die every year from consuming improperly prepared fugu. The poison, a sodium channel blocker, paralyzes the muscles while the victim stays fully conscious, and eventually dies from asphyxiation. There is currently no antidote, and the standard medical approach is to try to support the respiratory and circulatory system until the effect of the poison wears off. It is alleged that non-lethal quantities of the poison remain in the flesh of the fish and give a special desired tingling sensation on the tongue, which leads to the fingers.

What does fugu taste like?

[Food critic] Ruth Reichl has sampled deadly fugu ("It's like eating fluke," she told me, "only you're playing Russian roulette").

Where can you find fugu?

Check out this list of American restaurants that have put fugu on their menu.

How is fugu prepared?

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How do you know if you're dying from fugu?

Once you have eaten part of the fugu sashimi, you will undoubtedly know if you have consumed too much poison. The lips and tongue go almost entirely numb in a similar sensation to tasting cocaine. This is called in popular culture, "The Taste of Death." If this does not occur in around ten to fifteen seconds, according to some connoisseurs, then the toxin is not present.

Death by dinner sounds pretty scary, but what else is frightening about fugu?

That it appears to have this sinister pulse even after it's been put on a plate:

Have you had fugu? If so, we're glad you're still with us. So tell us: what does it taste like? Did you feel any after-effects?

Comments

[Blurp]

I thought it was the Chinese who were trying to poison us?

[ErnestineBass]

ROFLMFAO!!!

Yep, but there was jes this one slight cultural misunderstandin'.

They thought by poisoning our dogs and cats, they would eventually starve us by wiping out one of our major sources of protein.

Oopsie!

[antaeus]

The cosmopolitan decadence of it all. Correction: "The brie, chablis, and fugu crowd."

[gregod]

what a load of nonsense. yes, fugu is poisonous, but the number of poisonings every year in japan is almost zero (and often is zero). the number of people who die from salmonella and 0-157 from poorly prepared meat and vegetables is far larger and it is a slower and more painful death. i live near the port where most of the fugu is brought before it goes to market and while it is a little more expensive than other fish, it is still a fairly commonplace food. you can buy fugu sashimi or fish parts for soup in any supermarket. the dish only becomes exotic and expensive when served in some high-end restaurant where presentation is most important. every year at the winter festival in this town they give away fugu soup and nobody dies. so please stop with the mythologizing.

to the person who claimed numbness while eating fugu: i have eaten fugu hundreds of times and never experienced what you are talking about. if you really got some of the symptoms of fugu poisoning, you certainly would have ended up in the hospital or died. i would suggest that it was probably psychosomatic.

[AntiStrauss]

I'm just reporting my experience as requested. A big dose of NSAIDs also makes my fingers numb, maybe I'm just extra susceptible to that. I stopped after three pieces and was fine the next day, even if I was a little nevous that evening. Everyone else was fine, too.

I've been to the big markets in Tokyo and on the coast and never saw anything like all this cheap and free fugu you find. It's always special and always expensive and only rarely in the ultra high end supermarkets. Tell us your secret.

[AntiStrauss]

I had fugu once in Tokyo when I was traveling for business. It did look worse than most of the sashimi but better than the raw oysters I love. My host chose the live fish from a tank and it was immediately prepared and served. It was extremely fresh and still pulsing.
It tasted a little bland except for the soy sauce and wasabi. My lips and tongue went numb, as expected--the taste of death. It reminded me a little of eating raw fresh ginger which also makes my lips and tongue numb. After a third piece, my finger tips began to tingle and I stopped.
I'm glad I ate some and had the experience. It is hideously expensive, so I would not do it again unless a host insisted. The Japanese are extraordinarily generous hosts, especially in business settings. I was treated to many very costly meals that I ate gladly and thanked my hosts for profusely. Honto arrigato!

[Zhonni]

You mean it was still pulsing on your plate? You ate it alive? Just joking of course.

Good for you. You have done something I am not willing to do just like bungee jumping. A fellow Marine who owns a sky diving business once invited me to go fly for a substancianly subsidized rate or was it free, can't remember anymore. But, i do remember telling him if I jump out of a plane, I would sh*t myself. We all laughed about it, afterwhich, I was "disinvited". I would find his number and call him up, go jump out of a plane before I eat fugu.

[Transrational]

Fugu !
Oh yeah? Fugu too!

[Vyvjala]

The fugu chef could make you fubar.....­.....

[GrandpaMcCain]

Creepy!

[YA]

Actually, the world's most dangerous meal is a cheeseburger in Bagdhad.

[LeftLeanWing]

Eat regular sashimi and do a quick line ....

End-Of-Story .....

[PhillyQuaker]

At least it's fresh - yikes!

[Gilda]

That looks disgusting.

[schizmo]

The neurotoxins that kill you get you high in minute quantities. That's the real reason people eat it. Just enough gets you buzzed-- too much is a fatal OD. I'm sticking with peyote, with only makes you puke.

[situationcritical]

There is a joke in this somewhere about something, but I ain't goin' there.

[Count1]

Colin Harrison's excellent New York noir (with a dose of The Great Gatsby thrown in) *The Havana Room* has a plot point revolve around fugu. It is a fun novel.