Do you Fugu? Whogu? Yougu! Megu? Yes, yougu! What do I do? Fugu!!

Doug recently ate fugu. He's alright. You would have heard by now if he wasn't. I'm glad he's fine as he is my husband but I was a bit worried too. With only a few rare incidences, fugu is "safe" to eat as long as you have the fish prepared by a licensed chef but still, there are those few rare cases...

Usually the poisoned diner will die from asphyxiation after 24 hours of enduring dizzyness, headache, nausea and then difficulty breathing leading to asphyxiation, all while being paralyzed and in most cases, fully conscious. Without proper medical treatment, the patient will die a terrible death. Japanese scientists are looking for an antidote treatment while others are creating a non-lethal fugu fish that is safe to eat without the necessary preparations.

I asked Doug how the fish tasted as I'm sure most of you might be curious too. Was there a distinctive taste unlike any other fish he had ever had? Was there a slight tingling or numbness on his lips or tongue as is sometimes the case when the most practiced of professional fugu chefs prepares fugu with just a trace of poison still in the flesh? Will he go back again? The answers are "No", "No" and "Probably not". It's all about the presentation, the mystique of this delicacy, the laughing in death's face. Doug is certainly not a thrill seeker but it was an opportunity he couldn't pass so why not?

There are several ways of preparing fugu but no matter how you slice it, (really), it doesn't taste that remarkable. There is the typical presentation of the fugu spread out on a printed plate, sliced so thin you can see through it. This is called fugu sashi or tessa. As I mentioned above, only the most seasoned of chefs can safely prepare the fish with a scant trace of poison to give that tingling sensation on the lips and tongue. Then you can eat it simmered as in fugu-chiri, which the fish is simmered in a broth along with vegetables. There are other ways to eat fugu--such as a fugu skin salad or even pickling the most poisonous parts of the fish for three year. I wouldn't be surprised if some ingeneous Japanese comes up with a fugu ice cream. Hey, why not?!