Blowfish, Anyone?

Suwanee – I believe special thanks are due those who first dare certain foods. For example, sea urchin roe — or uni, as it’s known in Japanese cuisine. Imagine the fearless soul first to scoop the rich, orange roe from this prickly orb, only to be surprised by its briny nuances and sweet undertones.

Ironically, I reckon it was probably easier for the first poor fellow who pulled up a tiger blowfish — or tora fugu, as it is called in Japanese — from the ocean’s bottom, to clean it, cook it, and then eat it — only to meet his fate.

It is without doubt that the bravest souls weren’t the first to consume tiger fugu, but rather anyone who attempts to conquer the grizzly lethal puffer fish after knowing others before them have perished.

Tetrodotoxin gathers in the tiger fugu, a deadly compound thought to be produced by the shellfish that blowfish consume. A tiny droplet small enough to comfortably rest on the head of pin is ample size to kill a full-grown healthy adult.

In extremely small doses this neurotoxin can cause a pleasing numbing sensation. But ingesting too much will bring on feelings of dizziness, exhaustion, and nausea. Soon thereafter, paralysis begins to set in. First the lips, tongue and face, then fingers and toes, then hands and feet, then arms and legs, and finally the heart and lungs. Most victims die of respiratory failure. There is no known cure.

The dish became so popular that during the Tokugawa and Meiji periods (1603-1912) the Japanese authorities banned its consumption. It is still illegal to serve it to the Japanese Emperor.

The most infamous fugu victim was an actor by the name of Mitsugoro Bando VIII, in January 1975. It is said that Bando demanded the fish’s deadly liver despite warnings from the chef, ate four servings of the delicacy, and died.

So, why is this notorious Japanese puffer fish worth dying over? That’s an easy question to answer for some fugu connoisseurs. The lean meat of the fugu is pristine, with a distinct clean flavor described by many Japanese sushi chefs as umami, which connotes a kind of mystical deliciousness.

A prized meal of tora fugu is the gastro world’s thrill-seeking equivalent to climbing Mount Everest. And now, a small mouthful of tiger fugu thrill awaits anyone willing to make the jaunt to Yasu Japanese Bistro (2631 Peachtree Parkway Ste. #545, Suwanee, 678.947.4446), currently one of only twelve restaurants in the United States (the only in the southeast) that possesses proper certification to serve the deadly fish.

“A Japanese man drove all the way from Decatur, Alabama last week to eat it,” says chef Navarro peeking over the sushi bar to check our plates. “Our clientele right now is mostly Japanese.”

Navarro acts in a way as chef/owner Yasutaka Kawamura’s right hand man.

Kawamura, a humble creature, was born in Gunma-Ken Maebashi-City, Japan, and was certified in fugu preparation at the world-renowned Tsuji Culinary Institute in Osaka, Japan.

Tora fugu is only offered on the Omakase menu (reservation only) at Yasu, and will be out of season late March. It’s served in a variety of preparations here — the skin of the fish is served mixed with fresh seaweed salad, the bones are used to make shabu shabu broth used to lightly sear certified grade A5 Kobe striploin, my favorite, thin strips of tora fugu wrapped in shiso leaf for added depth, then of course there is the thinly-sliced buttery Uzu Zukuri, and the thicker nigiri.

Feeling a little weary? Allow me to let you in on a little secret. Restaurants that serve blowfish in the States must buy it from a Food and Drug Administration-approved supplier. The fish is cleaned in a processing plant in Shimoneski, Japan, by experts with at least a decade’s worth of experience. The meat is then inspected and frozen for its flight to New York, where it is inspected again upon arrival. It’s almost certainly safe.

But one can still experience a little sense of thrill here in knowing that the meat does contain trace amounts of tetrodotoxin, which, if consumed in larger quantities, can cause that pleasing numbing sensation on the lips and throat. About three to four ounces should do the trick, approximately what you’d get with Yasu’s Omakase portion.

Some daredevil eaters will argue that this removes the thrill. That’s okay — I’ve got a 5-month old baby at home.