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

There is a saying: "Eat puffer fish at the risk of one's life". Puffer fish is a river delicacy with delicious taste, which attracts many diners to taste it. However, puffer fish contains highly toxic substances, mainly in the internal organs and blood. If you want to eat it, it must be cooked by experienced professional chefs. The ingredients must be alive, slaughtered on the spot, the internal organs removed, and the blood washed away before it can be cooked. For safety reasons, the chef must taste it first to prove that it is safe to eat before it can be served to diners. From this point of view, the profession of chef is also risky.

The cute-looking pufferfish, also known as ball fish, inflatable fish, and balloon fish, is indeed very common in tropical oceans, but it is also a fish that is hard to guess. For example, its best trick is that it can expand its body to 2-3 times its original size. Once it is frightened or disturbed, it will squeeze water or air into a bag in its body to intimidate the enemy and prevent the predator's next attack. Even so, pufferfish has become a common edible fish on the table. Except for artificial breeding farms, pufferfish is still relatively rare in ordinary mountain rivers and streams. Their heads are diamond-shaped, square-shaped, etc. depending on the species. Some pufferfish have beautiful stripes, while others do not. They usually have fine thorns hidden in their bodies. When they are frightened, they swell up like a ball with thorns. Such pufferfish, knife fish, and shad are collectively called "Three Fresh Fishes of the Yangtze River". The meat is delicious and tender, making countless people salivate from ancient times to the present.

In Japan, pufferfish is the best in the eyes of gourmets. People also praise it with softness, tenderness, and silkiness, calling it an indescribable delicacy. Unlike the Japanese way of eating raw food, the best months to eat pufferfish in China are mainly from the end of March to the beginning of April. At this time, the pufferfish grows to the spawning period. After a winter of slow feeding, the ratio of fat to skin and flesh on their bodies is more favorable. The problem is that the toxin content in their bodies has also reached a higher peak. Therefore, chefs need to be more careful in the process of handling. You know, among more than 100 kinds of pufferfish, many pufferfish are poisonous. In the early years, there were also many people who died from eating pufferfish. Don't forget that since ancient times, there has been a saying among the people that "sacrifice your life to eat pufferfish", which means that this pufferfish is highly poisonous. Tasting this delicacy is roughly to risk your life. Can this pufferfish be eaten? Where does its toxicity come from? How toxic is pufferfish? Have the Japanese really risked their lives to eat pufferfish for hundreds of years? After watching it, I have to admire the Japanese. First of all, one thing needs to be made clear that pufferfish do not contain lethal toxins from birth. The source of this toxin, in addition to mainly coming from the types of bacteria on its body, is also related to its consumption of large amounts of special seaweed. After pufferfish eats algae, it will gradually be converted into toxins in the body. Some experts say that pufferfish toxin will paralyze the nerves, mainly the muscles. In severe cases, the muscles of the diaphragm will be paralyzed, causing the patient to be unable to breathe, and over time it will be impossible to rescue.

You may not know that tetrodotoxin is one of the most toxic neurotoxins found in nature. As of now, there is no specific antidote. If you do not seek medical treatment in time after poisoning, you will die within 10 minutes to 6 hours. To put it bluntly, tetrodotoxin is mainly secreted by some bacteria in the ocean. Simply put, marine organisms, including fish, shrimp, algae, etc., may contain tetrodotoxin. However, since the content of these toxins is extremely small and cannot be accumulated, thanks to the strong tolerance of pufferfish to tetrodotoxin, it can continue to accumulate in the body, so that wild pufferfish are very toxic. According to the results of chemical analysis, tetrodotoxin is an anesthetic that is 100 times more potent than cocaine. Even more amazing is that the white powder extracted from a medium-sized pufferfish is only about 1/10 the size of an aspirin tablet, which can poison 30 people.

It seems that pufferfish is the most poisonous food on the human table. In reality, the medicinal power of pufferfish is indeed extraordinary. It is said that in an accident, a person fell into a coma for 24 hours after eating only one bite of grilled pufferfish's innards. Do you know the terrible scene of death after eating pufferfish? Witnesses said that the poisoned person had clear thoughts, could not speak, could not move, and finally could not even breathe. What is certain is that the Japanese are very clear that pufferfish is highly poisonous. They love to eat it, mainly because they know how to clean the poisonous pufferfish. In Japan, all chefs who handle pufferfish need to have a professional certificate before they can become chefs, and it is not particularly easy to take this certification exam. After all, the secret to surviving after eating the most delicious thing like pufferfish lies in the preparation. Those who understand know that the edible part of pufferfish is its meat, as long as it is not contaminated by the liver, ovaries, intestines, kidneys, and eyes. The embarrassing thing is that although the people who cook pufferfish are trained, they are also very careful when cooking. However, in the past 20 years, more than 200 people in Japan have died from eating pufferfish. Most of these deaths were caused by eating pufferfish that was not properly processed at home. The second reason is that some pufferfish lovers, in order to seek strong stimulation, begged chefs to make liver and ovaries for them to remove toxins. Theoretically, the recovery rate of eating this deadly poison is 50%, but it must be said that eating pufferfish organs often becomes a person's "last" dinner. If you eat pufferfish cooked by experienced chefs, this phenomenon will rarely occur.

Around 1989, puffer fish entered the United States, and there were objections before that. For example, a New York restaurant negotiated with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for four years before being allowed to import puffer fish. The administration also required them to import only tiger puffer fish from Shimonoseki City. The reason is simple, because Shimonoseki City has not had a single case of puffer fish poisoning in the past half century, and puffer fish are only allowed to be airlifted to the United States during the non-mating season from October to March of the following year, after all poisonous parts are removed and the purpose of use is stated. You may know that even after careful processing, puffer fish still has trace amounts of tetrodotoxin in its body. What effects will eating a small amount of this cause? It will cause a slight anesthetic effect. Generally speaking, the feeling of "puffer fish drunkenness" is manifested in slight trembling of the lips and slight numbness of the fingertips. Puffer fish lovers think this is the most pleasant feeling of eating puffer fish. No one thinks that this reaction will cause human death. Although there are many specialty restaurants that serve puffer fish, no one dares to guarantee that the processed puffer fish is 100% non-toxic. Fortunately, the toxicity of artificially freshwater puffer fish is much lower, and the chefs are handling it more and more scientifically. Even so, people still have to be careful not to get food poisoning because of their greed for the deliciousness of puffer fish.

Mainly the feeling of eating

Nowadays, there are farmed pufferfish with extremely low toxin levels, but they must be cooked by professional chefs to make them taste so delicious that you will never forget them after eating them. So you must try it once and you will never regret it.

It has long been a "conclusion" that puffer fish is poisonous, and I'm not kidding you: I always tell you: when eating any kind of food, you should have a "safety awareness".

There are frequent cases of "puffer fish poisoning" and the culprit of such cases is "puffer fish toxin". Specifically, puffer fish toxin is a type of toxin, which mainly includes tetrodotoxin, tetrodotoxin, puffer fish liver toxin and puffer fish ovary toxin. The most toxic of these is "puffer fish ovary toxin", which can kill people with about 0.5 mg.

Please understand that the toxins in puffer fish are mainly found in "the ovaries, liver, kidneys, eyes, blood, skin, gills and other tissues other than puffer fish meat." The ovaries and liver are the most "powerful" in toxicity. Of course, it cannot be said that all puffer fish meat is non-toxic. It depends on the specific circumstances.

It is precisely because of the particularity of pufferfish toxin that the profession of "pufferfish detoxifier" came into being. Only "professionals" with extensive experience in killing pufferfish can completely remove the toxin from pufferfish fish before cooking it for tasting.

Although fish is delicious, some fish (parts) really cannot be eaten: For those "fish higher in the food chain", the risk of containing harmful substances such as heavy metal mercury is higher, and the risk of food poisoning is also higher. Fish including tuna, shark, swordfish and marlin are not recommended for consumption.

Fish on the market can be divided into wild fish and farmed fish. Many people like to "hunt for novelties", and the same is true for "wild fish". However, there are too many uncertainties in the living environment of wild fish. Whether the water quality is safe, whether there is pollution, whether the heavy metal content exceeds the standard, etc. will increase the risk of "enrichment of toxins".

These include toxic substances such as pufferfish toxin and ciguatera toxin; you will be safer if you don't eat wild fish.

Fish gallbladder is said to have the effect of "brightening eyes and clearing heat", but this is a rumor, as it is poisonous.

The gallbladders of most fish contain "toxins" such as hydrogen cyanide and bile acid, including various "bile-poisonous fish" such as crucian carp, carp, grass carp, and bighead carp.

Fish gallbladder poisoning is very scary. It occurs in a short period of time and can cause liver and kidney damage. In severe cases, it can even lead to death.

With that said, you should always remove the fish gallbladder before eating it; if you accidentally break it, you need to clean it thoroughly first.

Before tasting any kind of delicious food, you should first find out whether it is safe. Only by tasting food with a rational attitude and a high food IQ can you gain health and happiness.

Hello, I am Oscar Cooking Class. I hope the following answer is helpful to you.

Pufferfish is extremely poisonous and delicious, making people love and hate it. You can't stop eating it, so you have to try it desperately. The toxicity of pufferfish is equivalent to 1250 times that of highly toxic drugs, and only 0.48 mg can be fatal. But there is no toxin in the meat.

The meat of puffer fish is as white as frost, with a rich and tender meat flavor. It is high in protein and rich in nutrition. It contains a variety of trace elements. The content of anti-cancer and anti-aging elements is higher than that of turtle and sea cucumber. Therefore, there is a saying: If you don't eat puffer fish, you don't know how delicious fish is.

There are many ways to cook pufferfish, including sashimi, braised, and white sauce. But it requires professional chefs to prepare it, so don't try it yourself.

Pufferfish is a high-end aquatic product that is rich in nutrients and delicious, but it is also highly poisonous. If consumed without the preparation of professional chefs, it may be life-threatening at any time. Therefore, the Chinese government prohibits private breeding and sale of pufferfish. It is basically unavailable on the market, and things are expensive because they are rare. At the same time, China has also been influenced by Japan's pufferfish food culture, so many people like to try it.

1. What is pufferfish: Pufferfish is also called balloon fish. When it encounters danger, is frightened or excited, it will inhale the surrounding water or air into its body, allowing its body to swell to 2-3 times its original size, in order to intimidate the enemy and stop the enemy's attack.

2. Why are pufferfish so poisonous: Pufferfish themselves do not contain toxins. The toxins in their bodies come from the toxins in the seaweed in their growing environment. Wild pufferfish are highly toxic and cannot be eaten privately. Artificially farmed pufferfish have strict control over water quality and there are no toxic seaweed in their growing environment, so artificially farmed pufferfish do not contain toxins. The toxins in pufferfish are mainly distributed in the ovaries, liver, eyes, blood, skin, and gills. The fish meat does not contain toxins, but if the fish dies, the toxins in the internal organs will penetrate into the muscles, with the ovaries containing the most toxins, followed by the liver. The toxicity of pufferfish in different waters and seasons is different. Pufferfish during the spawning period are the most toxic. In addition, wild pufferfish are more toxic than artificially farmed pufferfish.

Why do so many people like to try new things?

1. Scarcity makes things valuable: Because pufferfish are highly poisonous, the government is very strict in food safety control in order to protect people's health. Private breeding and operation of pufferfish is prohibited in China. In September 2016, the General Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and the General Office of the State Food and Drug Administration issued a notice to conditionally open pufferfish processing and operation, and it is only limited to two varieties, "Red Fin Oriental" and "Dark-Striped Oriental". Even if it is conditionally opened, there are very few business places operating pufferfish on the market. Experts must be evaluated by relevant departments and registered to obtain business qualifications. Basically, the pufferfish that can be eaten in China are artificially cultivated.

2. Rich in nutrition and delicious: Puffer fish itself is delicious and chewy, with chewy texture. Puffer fish meat can be used to make sashimi, stew, porridge, fish balls, grilled, fried, and hot pot. The fish skin can be eaten cold. There is always a way to eat it that suits you. Puffer fish has a low fat content and is rich in protein, vitamins, trace elements, and has high nutritional value.

3. Deeply influenced by Japanese puffer fish culture: Puffer fish is a traditional Japanese delicacy. Japan has had a food culture of eating puffer fish since ancient times. Japan has also experienced the process of eating puffer fish, banning puffer fish, and then regulating its consumption. Chefs who cook puffer fish in Japan must undergo several years of professional training and obtain qualifications from relevant institutions before they can cook puffer fish. Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan is the origin of Japanese puffer fish, where you can strongly feel the Japanese puffer fish culture. Tourists who come here to travel will taste the puffer fish delicacies here, which have a variety of cooking methods and can be eye-opening. There are many Chinese in Japan, so it has played a certain role in the promotion of puffer fish culture in China.

To sum up, although pufferfish is highly poisonous, many people want to try it because of its high nutritional value, delicious taste, and rare nature. At the same time, China is also deeply influenced by Japan's traditional pufferfish culture.

The body contains an alkaloid called tetrodotoxin, which paralyzes the nerves and eventually causes the heart to stop beating and death.

The toxicity of pufferfish is also related to its reproductive cycle. Pufferfish that lay eggs in late spring and early summer are the most toxic.

The toxin paralyzes a person's nerves, causes vomiting, cools the limbs, and stops the heart and breathing.

The body of puffer fish contains tetrodotoxin and tetrodotoxin acid, two highly toxic substances. According to the test, the toxicity is equivalent to 1250 times that of highly toxic toxins, making it one of the most toxic non-professional proteins in nature.

The toxin of puffer fish is mainly concentrated in the ovaries, liver, and blood, and secondarily in the eyes, gills, and skin. The chemical properties of this toxin are relatively stable, and it cannot be immediately destroyed by general frying, boiling, pickling, tanning, etc. Therefore, the mortality rate of poisoning in humans and animals is extremely high.

I have been a chef in Hangzhou for more than ten years. Puffer fish is more commonly eaten in Huzhou, Jiangsu. Now, you must have a national certificate to process and sell edible puffer fish. We also processed it privately many years ago just to try it out.

Although puffer fish meat is very delicious, it can cause poisoning and life-threatening danger if not handled properly. Therefore, you must be delicate and use professional techniques when eating puffer fish. Before using the puffer fish, you must clean it repeatedly to completely remove the venom. It is not recommended that you do it at home.

There are frequent reports of puffer fish being poisonous and deadly if not handled properly.

I am certainly curious, but today I will briefly introduce it. If puffer fish is cooked by a famous chef, it is indeed delicious and nutritious. My experience in cooking puffer fish over the past few years is as follows: (1) First of all, the best puffer fish to eat is artificially farmed puffer fish in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Not only is the toxicity low, but the fish is also plump. And it must be alive. Dead puffer fish is not only difficult to process, but also toxic, because the toxins of puffer fish are mainly in the eyes, blood, ovaries, liver and other parts. The fish meat is non-toxic, but when the fish is dead, the meat is contaminated and the taste has changed.

(2) The most important thing is to kill the fish. First, put a basin of clean water in it and keep running water from the tap. Put the puffer fish on a plate and use scissors to cut out the fish eyes first, then cut off the fish fins on both sides. Then use scissors to cut open the fish belly (while doing this, the fish blood keeps flowing and the tap water keeps running) and scrape the fish's internal organs clean. There is a horizontal bone near the fish tail that needs to be cut off. Then turn the fish skin over the fish back, remove the fish skin and fat, drain the blood and water, and reveal the snow-white fish body. Soak the finished puffer fish in clean water for more than 20 minutes (keep running tap water) to complete the first step. The liver of the puffer fish can also be eaten, but it needs to be soaked in water (keep running tap water) for more than three hours to rinse out the puffer fish toxin before it can be eaten. It has a bit of muddy smell. It can also be fried with eggs.

(3) Cooking (puffer fish sashimi, braised puffer fish with abalone sauce, puffer fish with white sauce) Here we introduce the method of making puffer fish with white sauce by most chefs. Heat the pan with ginger and scallions, add a little Venus brand rose wine, and then add the broth made with lean meat, old chicken, etc. and bring to a boil. Pour the broth into a casserole and reduce the heat to low. Add the processed puffer fish and simmer for about half an hour. Then reduce the sauce until the sauce has a little gelatinous texture and season it. The meat is smooth and the broth is thick, white and delicious, comparable to the best thick soup of shark fin.

Nowadays, there are relatively few people eating pufferfish in the market. After all, life is only once. Generally, people eat porcupinefish more often. Porcupinefish, also known as small hard-jawed fish, is a close relative of the river. It has a large air sac in its abdomen and mostly lives in tropical coastal areas. It is covered with hard spines and is mostly brown in color. The meat of porcupinefish is also quite delicious if it is well processed.

It is the season for eating puffer fish again. Although puffer fish looks silly and cute, it is also extremely poisonous, but it still cannot escape the fate of being eaten. Among the many delicacies, there is a kind of "deadly delicacy" that is sought after by many gourmets and foodies. In other words, the more delicious it tastes, the more dangerous it is to eat, so you must eat it. Although puffer fish is highly poisonous, it is the ultimate test for foodies who have eaten all over the world. Without going through this test of life and death, do you have the nerve to call yourself a foodie? Eating puffer fish at the risk of one's life is a spirit and a kind of excitement.

Who really doesn't take their own life lightly? Whether in my country, Japan or South Korea, you need to take an exam to operate puffer fish. You can only do it if you have a license. In the past, there was a saying that the chef had to taste the puffer fish before it was served. The deliciousness of puffer fish lies in its skin, bones, meat, scrotum (sperm vesicle), ovary, blood, and liver, which are all poisonous. If you don't have any worries, don't touch it.

I have eaten puffer fish like the one in the photo. Each person gets a small piece of it. The soup is very thick. To be honest, it is not as delicious as the legend says. I would still be cautious if I risk my life to try it. The puffer fish was served a little late, and I was already 70% full. The skin of the puffer fish is relatively thick, with a lot of gelatin and a few prickles on it. The fish meat is similar to other fish. In line with the principle of not wasting, I ate all the fish meat and there was still half a skin left. I was ridiculed and said that I didn't know the value of the fish. It was just like fat meat, which I couldn't eat. It seems that I can't enjoy this blessing.