# Fugu



## Big Rad (May 19, 2003)

I just have to do this......

In Japan, discerning gourmets pay tremendous prices for a dinner of fugu. Only the flesh, the skin, the fins, and the milt are generally eaten. One can order raw sliced meat, sake with strained testes, toasted bone, dried fillet seasoned with sweet sake. A meal of fugu is always ornately presented – the raw meat is sliced paper-thin and arranged artistically in elaborate rosettes that reveal the pattern of the dish it is presented on – a bird, a flower or any other special composition. Whether dipped in the piquant soy, chive and bitter orange sauce or eaten as chowder, or with rice porridge, the fugu is said to have a very palatable taste. The large number of fugu restaurants in Tokyo attests to the fact that its pearly white meat attracts and makes addicts of many a gourmet. But despite all this, fugu is the only delicacy which cannot be served to the emperor and his family!

MMMMMMM .........Milt....


----------



## DORIGHT (Dec 1, 2006)

Never Had Fugu But I Have Been Known To Get F.u.b.a.r.'d A Few Times......

Seriously Though I Haven't Run Across Any Food That I Wouldn't Try....so Fugu It Is!!!!!!!


----------



## mdram (Jul 18, 2005)

Takifugu is a genus of pufferfish, often better known by the Japanese name fugu (Japanese: 河豚, literally "river pig"). There are 25 species belonging to the genus Takifugu, which can be found worldwide from about 45° latitude north to 45° latitude south, mostly in salt water, but sometimes also in fresh water or brackish water. Their diet consists mostly of algae, mollusks, invertebrates and sometimes crustaceans. The fish defend themselves by inflating their bodies to several times normal size and by poisoning their predators. These defenses allow the fish to actively explore their environment without much fear of being attacked.

The fish is highly toxic, but despite this — or perhaps because of it — it is considered a delicacy in Japan. The fish contains lethal amounts of the poison tetrodotoxin in the internal organs, especially the liver and the ovaries, but also in the skin and the testicles. Therefore, only specially licensed chefs can prepare and sell fugu to the public, and the consumption of the liver and ovaries is forbidden. But because small amounts of the poison give a special desired sensation on the tongue, these parts are considered the most delicious by some gourmets. Every year a number of people die because they underestimate the amount of poison in the consumed fish parts.

The poison 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. The fish is also featured prominently in Japanese art and culture.


----------



## DORIGHT (Dec 1, 2006)

Ok.....ok.........now I'll Have Mine Fried !!!!!!!!

Thanks Mdram


----------

