The other night I was lucky enough to be treated to Fugu (Pufferfish)! I apologize for the bad pictures - most of them were stolen off the restaurants website. As I mentioned before at some point I am somewhat teaching English while in Japan, obviously I'm not really qualified to teach English but in these situations usually it is someone who has learned before and just wants a chance to practice speaking with a native speaker. Anyways! I was treated to fugu by one of my students, which is why I brought that up. Fugu is not known for being a cheap eat so it was nice that I was treated instead of having to pay for it myself... I'm still a poor student after all. According to wikipedia, fugu can cost anywhere from 2,000yen ($25) to 20,000yen ($245) for a full course meal.
This picture shows the majority of the different forms of fugu that I tried. Fugu Sashimi is the most popular dish and it tasted kind of like any other kind of sashimi (raw fish). I also tried a bit of fugu kara-age which is fried fugu, which tasted more like chicken than fish. There was also techiri or fugu-chiri which is a kind of nabe or stew mixed with vegetables.
There is a special drink called 'hire-zake'. It's a kind of sake with the dried fins of the fugu. I didn't try this but my student ordered it so I could watch how they serve it. They bring it to your table in a little cup and the waiter lights the fins on fire for a few minutes and then covers the cup with a lid. This drink is served hot - it has a very sweet yet fishy smell.
This was a photo of the fugu nabe/stew.
This was our dessert, it was made from the leftover stew. It's kind of similar to risotto, it was basically just a rice and egg mixture combined in the leftover stew.
This was a badly stolen picture but I was trying to show you how thin and transparent the slices of fugu are! I think I preferred this style the best. Forgot to mention - Fugu can be lethally poisonous! (According to wikipedia) Certain internal organs such as the liver and sometimes the skin are highly toxic to most animals when eaten but the meat of some species is considered a delicacy in Japan, China, and Korea. The restaurant preparation of fugu is strictly controlled in Japan and only chefs who have qualified through rigorous training are allowed to serve fugu. The poison and toxins are the best part about eating fugu (not to mention it's supposed to be great for the skin!) if you get a bit of poison it can cause intoxication, light-headedness, and numbness on the tongue or lips. It's exciting knowing that this could be your last meal... I hope you like raw fish!
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