Fugu Sashimi

Fugu has been eaten in Japan since prehistory—pufferfish bones turn up in Jomon-period shell middens—but its modern status as a refined delicacy is tied above all to Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture, at the western tip of Honshu, which remains the country's largest wholesale fugu market. Eating fugu was officially banned for much of the late feudal and early modern period because of frequent poisonings; the lifting of the ban in Yamaguchi is traditionally credited to the Meiji-era prime minister Ito Hirobumi, who, the story goes, tasted the fish at a Shimonoseki inn and ordered the prohibition relaxed there, though this is an oft-repeated account rather than firm documentation. The Kansai names tessa and tetchiri derive from teppo, 'gun', an old Osaka nickname for the fish—the joke being that, like a gun, it can shoot you dead—with tessa a contraction of teppo-sashi (gun sashimi). Today Osaka consumes the largest share of Japan's fugu.

Fugu flesh is the opposite of fatty tuna: lean, dense, and resilient, with a clean, faintly sweet taste and a distinct elastic, almost crunchy chew that comes from its firm muscle. Sliced paper-thin and gathered into a small bundle, it turns supple and easy to eat, the ponzu's citrus tartness and the chili-radish heat playing against the fish's mild sweetness. Eaten singly, one slice is so thin it is almost nothing; the point is the texture and the cool, clean flavor in a small dipped bundle. A good plate is sliced even and gossamer-thin so the pattern beneath reads clearly; thick, ragged slices feel rubbery and miss the whole effect.

Two things govern fugu sashimi. The first is safety: tetrodotoxin, one of the most potent natural poisons known, concentrates in the liver, ovaries, intestines, eyes, and skin of many pufferfish species; it has no antidote and blocks the sodium channels that fire nerves and muscles, so a fatal dose paralyzes the body while the victim stays conscious. A licensed fugu chef is trained to identify the species and to remove and dispose of every toxic organ without rupturing it, leaving only the edible muscle—which is why preparation, not cooking, is the skilled act. The second is texture: pufferfish muscle is unusually firm because it is rich in collagen-laced connective tissue, so a normal-thickness slice would eat tough and rubbery. Cutting it into translucent usuzukuri sheets shortens the fibers the teeth must work through, making the flesh tender and letting its faint sweetness come forward. The fish is served raw and very fresh, often briefly chilled so the slices firm up and cut cleanly.