The Least Useful Guide to Fukuoka

As you may well know, we habitually eat Fugu (blowfish, pronounced as “fuku” in this area) which is notorious as a lethally poisoning fish. Although the number of people who died from fugu poison has declined, Fugu is still kind of out of reach, mainly because they are too expensive.

However, there are wallet-friendly varieties of Fugu. When gourmet guides refer to Fugu, it usually means Tora Fugu (Tiger Blowfish), the famously expensive one.Although there have been farmed ones available, the price of wild Tora fugu can easily reach ¥10,000/fish.  I would go for Nagoya or Shosai varieties, which are widely available and safe to eat as long as properly cooked by the professionals (there is an offisical license to cook fugu).

¥780/pack (the price can vary depending on the haul of the day)

The taste might be not as superb as the Tora, but OK for everyday meal at home. Anyway,  I haven’t eaten Tora fugu so many times as to see the difference.

You can eat it as sahimi (a local fishmonger’s recommended method is quickly boiling it just like Shabushabe and cooling it in icy water, then slicing it into sashimi). Also you can fry or broil it, just like chicken fillets or other lean meats. Personally I like it deep-fried in light flour coating.

Waning: NEVER, ever attempt to gut  or clean ANY fugu yourself . It’s almost impossible to distinguish non-poisonous from poisonous varieties, and the poisonous parts are different depending on the variety. Always ask your fishmonger if the fish on the display is suitable for sashimi when you 'd like sashimi of fugu.