Dinner is blowing up

Fugu is one of the ultimate Japanese foods for most westerners.  Blowfish, also known as puffer fish or fugu in Japanese, is exotic and daring.  People hear that you can die from improperly prepared fugu and they freak out.  Why would someone eat something that could kill you?

If fugu is prepared incorrectly, one blowfish contains enough poison to kill 30 adults.  But just because it can kill that many people, doesn't mean it does.  Since the implementation of fugu preparation licensing in 1949, the reputation of being such a dangerous meal has really been overzealous.  The majority of people who died from fugu poisoning prepared it themselves.  Others ate the dangerous organs on purpose, such as the liver or ovaries.  In fact, for the past 20 years, only about one person per year dies from fugu poisoning due to improper self-preparation.  People have been hospitalized or have died after having it at a restaurant, but not many.  According to the Tokyo Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health, only one death occurred after eating at a restaurant in Tokyo between 1993 to 2011.

These statistics don't deter me.  I've had fugu several times and I really enjoy it.

When my husband asked recently if I wanted to go out for fugu on national fugu day, I hearily agreed.  We haven't been to a restaurant to eat fugu since moving to Tokyo because it is expensive.  This seemed like a special time to go, even if it is just a made up holiday to increase fugu sales.

We found a restaurant in Nerima that specializes in preparing fugu, Guenpin.  It is a chain restaurant with 88 restaurants nationwide and over 130 licensed fugu chefs.  They are most known for their course menus that allow patrons to try a variety of ways to eat this special fish.  Guenpin only serves one variety of fugu (out of 22 kinds allowed), tiger blowfish. 

We ordered a set menu for 2 and then ordered 2 additional side dishes since our son was with us. 

Our dinner started with boiled fugu skin.  This description sounds horrendous, but it was like eating chewy noodles with a bit of ponzu on it.  I was amazed that our son stole my husband's dish and ate almost the whole thing by himself.  He really liked the chewy texture.

Up next was our two sides - deep fried fugu and Chinese cabbage salad.  Both of these were devoured in no time.  They were both so delicious and a great complement to our meal.

While our son was eating the fugu karaage (fried fugu), our sashimi arrived.  We squeezed sudachi (a small green citrus) on the thinly sliced raw fish and topped it with small amounts of green onions - both the green and the white part.  A quick dip into ponzu brought the dish full circle.  Thinking he would say no, I offered some to our son.  He enthusiastically said "yes" and opened wide.  He announced that the fugu sashimi didn't have much flavor, but he really liked it and ate 3 or 4 more pieces.

It was about this time that my special sake arrived.  When eating fugu, it is traditional to enjoy a very dry sake that has roasted fugu fins in it.  I used to really enjoy this drink when I was younger and wanted to enjoy another cup of it.  It was much stronger than what I typically drink these days, but I was still glad that I ordered it so my husband and I could share the beverage. 

The main course is a nabe, cooked at the table.  The broth arrived in a basket, lined with paper, and a metal plate placed on the bottom.  The table has an induction burner set in the middle, so the burner allows the metal plate to heat up the broth.  It is such an interesting presentation!  I have never had soup cooked in a paper bowl before.  They also brought out the plate of nabe ingredients, including fugu, mushrooms, chrysanthemum leaves (Do not go out an eat the leaves off of your flowers!  These are an edible variety.), Chinese cabbage, and more.  We had small bowls of ponzu that we dipped the cooked ingredients into as we ate the soup.  We shared with our son and he suddenly shouted really loudly "yum!!!"  I was really surprised at his volume and inquired what had delighted him so much.  He told me that the chrysanthemum leaves were so delicious and he wanted to eat all of them.  I guess we'll need to add those to our at-home nabe.  I don't usually buy them because they have a very strong flavor that I assumed a 5 year old wouldn't care for.  He is constantly surprising me.

Once we finished the nabe, the waiter brought risotto ingredients to the table.  He then used the broth from the nabe to cook the risotto right in front of us.  We all grabbed bowls and dug right in.  This is the most flavorful, wonderful risotto because the stock is amazing. 

We were comfortably stuffed at that point and glad the meal was over.  However, our son was excited to learn the set menu came with a scoop of maple nut ice cream or yuzu sorbet.  We asked for one of each and he devoured both, barely letting us try them.  Once the dessert was gone, he finally announced he was full.

My husband and I raised our eyebrows at each other.  Who would have guessed that our son would be such a huge fugu fan?  While part of me is super pleased with this revelation, the other part of me thinks about the $120 bill we paid for dinner.  We don't splurge like that very often.

Fugu doesn't freak me out.  I think it is a very tasty fish that we only eat on special occasions.  As long as it is prepared by a (licensed) professional, I'll always be happy to enjoy it.  And from now on, I am sure our son will be right by our side any time we have the chance to eat it.