Fugu or puffer fish is a culinary delight in Japan and the United States. In these two regions, it is a real delicacy. But things are different in Europe. Here, at least legally, it is impossible to find. The reason is that its consumption is prohibited, and this is because we are talking about a very poisonous creature (the second most poisonous vertebrate species). In fact, very few people in the world can cook this dangerous dish, and a few days ago, a 10-year-old girl joined this small list.

News. Karin Tabira is the name of a 10-year-old Japanese girl who has made headlines in the country. The fifth-grade student passed an exam this summer that qualifies her to cut and gut fugu for consumption, making her the youngest person authorized to prepare the dish.

Tabira was among 60 people, mostly professional chefs, who passed the exam out of 93 people who participated in the annual competition held in Yamaguchi Prefecture this summer. She told the media that passing the exam was part of a “happy summer vacation.” In fact, she used her new skills to serve a tray of thin slices of fugu sashimi to the governor of Kumamoto Prefecture, where the young woman lives.

Inside the story. Yamaguchi Prefecture has no age limit for the fugu test, but in Kumamoto Prefecture, Tabira can only prepare fugu dishes with the help of a licensed adult. The little girl’s interest was apparently sparked by news that another slightly older boy from another prefecture had passed the test, so she has been training at Fukunari, a farm and wholesaler in Kumamoto, since February.

The little girl hammered the fugu’s hard bones with a butcher knife and “had to climb onto a platform to use the kitchen counter,” said Yuki Hirao, one of Fukunari’s managers, according to the country’s media. “Even our adult staff cannot pass the test. It’s unbelievable that a 10-year-old girl passed this test on the first try.”

Why is it so dangerous? It all comes down to one word: tetrodotoxin, a powerful neurotoxin that resides in various parts of your body, especially your liver, ovaries, and skin. This toxin is extremely lethal (estimated to be 1,200 times more toxic than cyanide). Even a tiny amount can paralyze muscles, cause respiratory failure, and, if not treated quickly, death.

What makes it particularly dangerous from a “culinary” perspective is that improper preparation can lead to edible meat being contaminated with poisonous parts. For this reason, chefs who prepare this ancient delicacy must be highly trained to carefully remove the “poison” and only serve meat that is safe for consumption. There is still a small risk, though, that adds an element of danger to the ingestion experience.

Steps to becoming a fugu master. In Japan’s upscale restaurants, fugu is often served raw, and chefs must have a license proving they can safely cut out the organs, which contain tetrodotoxin (yes, there have been deaths from eating fish prepared by unlicensed people), so the process of serving it is very meticulous.

First of all, you have to go through months of training, either at a school or with an experienced chef, where you learn not only how to cook but also how to handle and prepare the different parts of the fish safely. Then, you have to pass two exams, the first one theoretical about health regulations, the effects of tetrodotoxin and safety precautions, and finally a practical exam where you have to show that you can fillet the fish and prepare the dish without contaminating the edible part.

This exam is usually conducted under strict conditions where the candidate tastes his food.

The fugue of science. A few months ago, when researchers managed to synthesize the venom, we said it was a major breakthrough for the next generation of painkillers. Like? Yes, as time went on, it became known that more and more creatures (octopuses, among others) were able to produce the deadly neurotoxin. So it turns out that it’s not actually something that animals produce.

Rather, it was something biosynthesized by certain bacteria that infect these species; something that accumulates in the bodies of its hosts and ultimately plays a key role in their defense against predators. What’s really surprising is that the toxin has many uses beyond fish, and could be used to fight cancer and even migraines.

In fact, if we focus on its current practical uses, tetrodotoxin has become an indispensable tool in neurological research because it allows the selective blocking of sodium channels and can therefore be used to silence electrical signals within specific neurons.

Image | Brian Yurasits, Qwert1234

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