Pufferfish is highly poisonous, so why do so many people want to try it?

There is a saying: "Eat puffer fish to the death." Pufferfish is a river delicacy with a delicious taste that attracts many diners to try it. But pufferfish contains highly toxic substances, mainly in the internal organs and blood. If it is to be eaten, it must be prepared by an experienced professional chef. The ingredients must be alive, slaughtered on site, internal organs removed, and the blood washed away before they can be made. For safety reasons, chefs must taste the food first to prove that it is safe to eat before it can be enjoyed by diners. From this point of view, the profession of chef is also risky.

Puffer fish can be seen in both salt and fresh water. We call puffer fish "Timba elbow" at the beach. In the past, fishermen would throw this fish away casually after landing because wild puffer fish are highly poisonous. People who don't know how to handle it are easily poisoned after eating it.

My mother worked in a fishery company before she retired. Later, because pufferfish could be exported to Japan, pufferfish that no one wanted before became very valuable.

In fact, most experienced fishermen at the beach can handle pufferfish, because the toxins in pufferfish are mainly concentrated in the internal organs and blood. As long as these places are properly treated, they can basically be eaten.

I ate puffer fish a lot when I was a kid. It was so plentiful here that it was so cheap. At that time, it was said that there were still many restaurants that used the tail part of the puffer fish to make fillets and sell them, but the puffer fish dumplings were indeed very delicious.

Why is puffer fish so delicious?

First, public opinion has spread legends about the deliciousness of puffer fish from ancient times to the present. The most famous one is that King Wu Fu Chai compared the taste of puffer fish meat to "Xishi milk". Thinking about the taste and texture of puffer fish, it can be compared with that of Shih Tzu milk, the first of the four beauties. Naturally, it makes people want to try it! The Japanese also have a saying of "eating puffer fish to the death". If a delicacy can make people die to eat it, it is naturally extraordinary!

Second, the production is sophisticated and cumbersome, and those who prepare puffer fish must hold a license to work. Many restaurants that sell puffer fish now must obtain a franchise business license, and the chefs who prepare puffer fish must undergo professional training. , and a certificate is required to work. The puffer fish currently sold are basically farmed, because by controlling the puffer fish’s food, tetrodotoxin can be reduced to a minimum. Because restaurants selling fugu must obtain qualification certificates, chefs must be trained, and the sources of ingredients must be strictly controlled. In this way, the price of puffer fish is naturally high, and expensive and famous things are delicious. This gives people a psychological suggestion.

3. Is pufferfish really delicious? As a person who lives by the sea, I can say that I have eaten pufferfish many times, but it is really not as delicious as the legend says. Some fish can be said to taste far better than pufferfish, but because of the special characteristics of pufferfish, many people say that pufferfish is delicious. The puffer fish itself has no peculiar smell, and there are only main spines and no fine spines. The texture of the fish is white, smooth and slightly tough in the mouth, with some fresh and sweet taste of crab. I can only say that it tastes really good. The skin of puffer fish is particularly rich in gum content, but the bumpy spines on the skin can easily pierce the mouth and tongue, so experienced diners always roll up the puffer fish skin to eat it. Every year my relatives at the beach give me a few dried puffer fish. After the dried fish is steamed, the fish becomes like rice grains. It is sticky and rich in colloid in the mouth, especially the skin is chewy and elastic. It is a very delicious dish to go with wine. I usually like to steam it with eggplant, it is a very good dish.