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There are more than 120 species of puffer fish and 22 different species are approved by the Japanese government for use in restaurants. But one is more valuable and more toxic than the others: the torafugu or tiger fish-balloon.
The wild torafugu is often found in upscale restaurants, where it is served in the form of perfectly sliced sashimi, fried, and even used to make a hot sake called hirezake. Yamadaya has been serving as puffer fish for more than 100 years. Their fugu is caught in southern Japan and transported by air to their restaurants in Tokyo.
At Haedomari Market, the fugu is auctioned with the aid of a bag and hand-held signals. Each potential buyer gets their hands in the bag and makes a secret offer before choosing a successful bidder.
When you sell such a dangerous food, safety is paramount. In 2018, a supermarket accidentally sold five packets of fish whose poisonous liver had not been removed, and the city used its missile alert system to warn residents.
The tetrodotoxin contained in fugu is more toxic than cyanide and every year about 20 people are poisoned by poorly prepared fish.
It takes a lot of skill and training to prepare the fish safely and find out which parts are toxic.
The toxic parts can vary from one species to another, and hybrid species appear even more difficult to distinguish. One of the most difficult things to distinguish between can be the fugu woman's ovaries, which are extremely toxic, and the male's testicles, which are a delicacy.
The Japanese government tightly controls who can prepare the fugu, and the chiefs must pbad a thorough examination before being legally allowed to serve the fish. This stringent regulation means that even though the fish can be deadly, the number of deaths due to oyster consumption is greater than the number of deaths each year.
All the skills and training required to prepare this fish increase the price. The fish is killed a few seconds before preparation. And while the process seems horrible as the muscles continue to spit, the fish is dead.
This method of killing the fish means that the meat stays fresh longer and that in Yamadaya, the fugu is aged 24 hours before being served. So, what taste does it really have?
There is another reason why the fugu tiger becomes more expensive: overfishing.
The tiger fish is almost under threat and in 2005, the Japanese government limited its fishing quotas and seasons. Another popular edible species in Japan, the Chinese pufferfish, has seen its population decline by 99.9% over the last 45 years.
Closed versions are much cheaper and many more affordable fugu chain restaurants are starting to appear, but the cultivated version is hard to breed and many consumers claim that its taste is not as good.
The high price of wild fugu ensures that it is safely prepared by an expert chef, and when dealing with a potentially deadly fish, this price is definitely expensive.
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