Risk-Free Fugu?

The New York Times reports today that thanks to advances in fugu research and farming, Japanese fish farmers are now mass-producing fugu as harmless as goldfish. Fugu is the Japanese word for the pufferfish and is also a Japanese dish prepared from the meat of pufferfish or porcupinefish.

In what might seem like a natural deterrent to consumption, the liver of pufferfish species are extraordinarily toxic thanks to the presence of tetrodotoxin . Tetrodotoxin--a very potent neurotoxin that shuts down electrical signaling in nerves--may produce dizziness, exhaustion, headache, nausea, or difficulty breathing in individuals who consume it. For 50% to 80% of the victims, death follows within four to 24 hours. The victim remains fully conscious throughout most of the ordeal, but cannot speak or move due to paralysis, and soon also cannot breathe and subsequently asphyxiates. There is no known antidote.

But in the skilled hands of an expert fugu chef, just enough tetrodotoxin left in the preparation of pufferfish flesh allegedly leaves the customer with a pleasant tingling or numbing sensation to the lips and tongue. Not enough to kill, just enough to thrill. But now things may be changing.

Fugu 101
It was previously assumed that pufferfish produced tetrodotoxin on its own. But following an eight year study by researchers from Tokyo Healthcare University, it was found that fugu could be made poison-free by strictly controlling its feed. More than 7,000 fugu were given only feed free of tetrodotoxin-laden bacteria. Not one was later found to be poisonous.

Fugu has been consumed in Japan for centuries. The most prestigious edible species is the Tiger Blowfish (Takifugu rubripes), which is also the most poisonous. The Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare has created a list which shows which species contain body parts that can be consumed. Strict fishing regulations are now in place to protect the fugu population from being depleted. Most fugu are now harvested in the spring during the spawning season, and then farmed in floating cages in the Pacific Ocean.

Fugu prices rise in autumn and peak in winter, which is apparently the most popular time to eat fugu, as they fatten to survive the cold. The fugu is shipped to the restaurant alive and stored in the restaurant in a large tank, usually prominently displayed. To reduce chances of accidental death from inexperienced preparation, whole fugu may not be sold to the general public.

Since 1958, only specially licensed chefs can prepare and sell fugu to the public. The fugu apprentice needs a two-or three-year apprenticeship before being allowed to take an official test which consists of a written test, a fish-identification test, and a practical test of preparing fugu and then eating it. Presumably, failing in the practical test means not a lot of candidates are around for a make-up exam.

How Is Fugu Like The Green Fairy?
There's certainly an almost romantic mystique that has developed around the fugu tradition that has permeated Japanese culture. The fanaticism and lore around the risky fish has spread to new markets of connoisseurs looking for dining thrills in the US and beyond. Here in San Francisco, we have a fugu-inspired sushi house called Blowfish Sushi that sells itself with the clever tag line, Sushi to die for. A comparable situation combining lore and danger can be seen with the recent resurgence in popularity of Absinthe.

Absinthe (often referred to as The Green Fairy) is a distilled, highly alcoholic, green, anise-flavored spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, also called "wormwood." Absinthe was portrayed as a dangerously addictive, psychoactive drug responsible for wildly psychedelic visions and erratic behavior. Think van Gogh and severed ears.

The scare came from the presence of a poorly-understood chemical compound called thujone found in wormwood. As a result of the presumed danger, its production and sale was banned in the US and much of Europe in 1915. However, research over the past decade found no evidence to show Absinthe to be any more dangerous than ordinary liquor. Now, domestic and imported absinthe can again be quaffed without fear of freak-outs in a growing number of bars and brasseries across the states. But will trip-free absinthe be as desirable as the romanticized absinthe of old? Time (and sales) will tell.

Loss Of Tradition Or Fear Of Competition?
You would think an announcement that fugu can be produced toxin-free might be welcomed. Wild fugu livers (even with the risk of toxin) are a delicacy and in high demand in Japan. Fatty fugu livers are considered comparable to goose liver in quality. And even better, farmed fugu livers don't come with anywhere near the amount of ethical baggage as seen in the force-feeding goose liver industry. The potential for a new market to open in toxin-free farmed fugu livers has many potential investors seeing green. But instead of a roar of welcoming cheer, debate is now raging in Japan over whether this "new fugu" is, to quote Martha Stewart, "a good thing."

Despite the recent study that farmed fugu are toxin-free, neither the Japanese Ministry of Health nor the National Fugu Association is in a hurry to approve the marketing of farmed fugu livers anytime soon. They seem to argue that from a public health perspective, it's just too risky for even a potentially toxic species to bypass regulation.

But The New York Times story suggests that market competition may be more at work than public health concerns. Farmed fugu liver may simply threaten existing wild-caught producers with losing their grip on the fugu market. “They [the National Fugu Association] want to protect their vested interests,” said Tamao Noguchi, a marine toxin specialist at Tokyo Healthcare University and a leading fugu expert. “They won’t accept this for a long, long time.”

I've never tasted fugu so I can't comment on whether the flavor is so transcendent as to stand on its own legs apart from the mystique surrounding the risk. So I can't guess whether risk-free farmed fugu can seriously threaten the traditional, lip-numbing variety. But knowing the precarious situation the commercial seafood industry faces with seriously depleted fish stocks and increased fishing effort, I would imagine that markets are just looking to maintain a zero-sum game in a rapidly declining enterprise. Any new competition would be fought against.

But I still think there's just too much history as well as mystery wrapped-up in the possibly deadly version of fugu that won't see it going away anytime soon.