The puffer fish is distributed all over the world, with about 100 species. The puffer fish has a small round mouth, a dark brown back and a white abdomen. The big one is 1 m long and weighs about 10 kg. Its eyes are usually blue-green, which can automatically change color with the change of light. Not many bones', dorsal fin and ventral fin are very soft, but there are two rows of sharp teeth, which can crush hard-shell foods such as clams, oysters and sea urchins.

Although puffer fish is highly toxic, its meat is delicious and tender. People often compare puffer fish slices with Japanese paintings, which are soft, delicate and memorable.

The puffer fish meat contains less toxins, while the ovary, liver and blood all contain more toxins. In China, in order to protect people's lives, the state explicitly prohibits restaurants from serving puffer fish. Japan has a long history of eating puffer fish, which has almost become an important part of its food culture. The processing of puffer fish is very strict. A qualified puffer fish chef must receive at least two years of rigorous training and pass the examination before obtaining a business license. Each puffer fish needs to go through 30 procedures to detoxify, and a skilled chef needs 20 minutes to complete it. Pufferfish are usually kept in ponds. Before eating, net it out with a net bag, cut off the fins, cut off the mouth, gouge out the fish eyes and peel off the fish skin with a knife. Then, cut them open, take out the highly toxic internal organs such as intestines, liver, ovaries and kidneys, and then cut the meat of puffer fish into small pieces and put them in clean water to wash away the poison. The washed fish pieces are as white as jade and crystal clear. Next, cut it into pieces as thin as paper, and then arrange these fish slices into patterns such as chrysanthemums or cranes. When eating, pick up the fish fillet and dip it in the soy sauce and pepper on the plate and chew it slowly in your mouth. After eating fish fillets and drinking a bowl of puffer fish soup, it is really refreshing and delicious.

Although puffer fish meat is delicious, improper handling or overeating will kill people. Tetrodotoxin is a neurotoxin, which is nearly a thousand times more toxic than potassium cyanide. In Japan, people die every year because of eating tetrodotoxin by mistake.

Like snake venom, bee venom and other toxins, tetrodotoxin also has its beneficial side. The liver extract of puffer fish has inhibitory effect on many tumors. Dolphin liver fraction has been made into tetrodotoxin injection for clinical and surgical analgesia of cancer.

2. What are the taboos for eating puffer fish?

Pufferfish belongs to pure family, which is a delicious but highly toxic fish. There are more than 90 species, mostly distributed in China's coastal areas and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Generally speaking, fresh puffer fish has toxic substances in the head, skin, eyes, blood and internal organs (especially ovaries and liver), which is called tetrodotoxin and belongs to the category of highly toxic. The lethal dose of tetrodotoxin to adults is 300 mg.

The puffer fish that has been dead for a long time must not be eaten, because the toxins in the viscera will gradually penetrate into the muscles. Some puffer fish are poisonous not only in their internal organs, but also in their muscles, which cannot be removed by ordinary cooking methods. According to related reports, a 350g oriental pure with dark stripes contains enough toxins to kill 1 1 person. Once this toxin enters the body, it usually starts to get sick within 0.5- 1 hour. Tetrodotoxin can paralyze nerve endings and nerve centers, and finally paralyze respiratory centers and vascular nerve centers and die.

For consumers, it is best not to cook puffer fish by themselves. It is reported that there are no fewer deaths due to puffer fish poisoning every year 100 cases. Relatively speaking, it is safer to eat puffer fish in regular hotels, because some hotels will hire experts to kill puffer fish at high prices to deal with puffer fish.

3. How to eat puffer fish is safe

Puffer fish, known as lungfish in ancient times, is commonly known as bubble fish, belly-blowing fish, and Qinglangjun; The scientific name is puffer fish. It is oval, with a blunt front end and a tapered tail. Dorsal fin 1 strip, no ventral fin, no scale or spiny scale, gray-brown body back. The principal and interest of puffer fish are in the middle and lower reaches of the western Pacific Ocean. Sexually mature puffer fish mate and lay eggs from the open sea to the Yangtze River to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River every March.

How to eat safely?

Every year around Tomb-Sweeping Day, even literati thousands of miles away will go to Nanjing, Yangzhong and other places to "eat puffer fish to death". Experts believe that because many people don't understand safe cooking techniques, unscientific methods of eating puffer fish will lead to frequent poisoning. The ovary and liver of this fish are highly toxic, and 0.0005 g of tetrodotoxin or 0.00 1 g of tetrodotoxin is enough to kill dogs weighing 1 kg.

Experts said that the correct knowledge about puffer fish should be widely publicized. For example, some people mistakenly think that the seeds of puffer fish are the best, leading to poisoning. In fact, killing puffer fish is a very complicated procedure. If you are not careful, it will easily lead to poisoning. Fish ovaries can't be eaten. The blood in the fish must be cleaned and cooked for more than an hour. These technologies must be studied specially and systematically.

In recent years, under the strict supervision and safety guidance of local food hygiene departments and catering industry associations, some areas have carried out research on the safe cooking of puffer fish. Relevant experts pointed out that the improvement of puffer fish varieties also provided the possibility for safe consumption. If we take some solid and effective poison control measures in fish species, water quality, bait and other aspects to reduce the toxicity and produce puffer fish that fully meets the quality requirements of pollution-free products, the result is relatively safe.

Therefore, although puffer fish is delicious, consumers should be reminded that puffer fish should not be cooked at home without professional technology, but should be eaten in a professional restaurant to prevent poisoning.

4. How to kill puffer fish safely without poisoning?

Close your eyes and hide. Be careful not to break them. They are poisonous. The method is similar to other fish, but the puffer fish meat is tender, so pay attention.

Vegetable tempura puffer fish

Raw materials:

Japanese food is called "food eaten with eyes", which means it is particularly pleasing to the eye. Our boss went to Japan to visit the puffer fish hotel and took a fancy to this "food with eyes". After he came back, we tried again and again according to the boss's description. Finally, the boss said that the taste was close to what he felt when he tasted this dish in Japan. Now it has become the specialty of our shop. The puffer fish slices in this dish can be replaced by grass carp slices.

Production process:

Ingredients: 22 puffer fish slices (0.8 cm thick), 3 Artemisia selengensis (each tip is only one finger long), 3 eggplant slices cut into fan, 3 sweet potatoes cut into diamonds, 4 mushrooms cut into snowflakes and 4 red pepper rings. Practice: 1, dip the raw materials in tempura powder for later use. 2. Take a proper amount of tempura powder and add water to make a batter. The consistency is so thin that it can be hung with vegetable paste. 3. Put the pan in wide oil and heat it to 40% to 50%. Put the raw materials hanging on the paste into the pot piece by piece, fry for half a minute until golden brown, and remove the oil with a small colander when it feels hard and crisp.

Production skills:

This dish is made in Japan. The ingredients are not needed, but the taste is all dipped. Dip in juice: 350g of Muyu flower, 3500g of water, simmer for half an hour, and the sauce turns into Muyu juice. When preparing, take 50g of Muyu juice, add 5g of white sugar, 5g of monosodium glutamate, Japanese soy sauce 10g, Japanese miso 10g, and mix well.

Characteristics of dishes:

Technical key: Pay attention to the oil temperature when frying. Too high oil temperature will paste 10 second. If the oil temperature is too low, the raw materials will sink to the bottom. The way to observe the oil temperature is to put in raw materials, and it is best to float them before they sink to the bottom of the pot.

5.puffer fish

The meat of puffer fish is very fat, except for fishbones. Cut the fish into strips, add a little onion, wrap it in tin foil and cook it on a hot iron plate. After the cheerful "stabbing" sound, the edge of the fish rolled up slightly and looked tight and full. It tastes like a frog's leg, and it tastes delicious.

The puffer fish is not only delicious in meat, but also has prickly skin, rich in colloid, five millimeters thick and translucent. The cold salad looks good. Fish skin is cut into small pieces of several inches and simply seasoned. Eating in your mouth is tough and your teeth will encounter slight resistance. I can also feel the thorns on some fish skins as if they are nothing, and the taste is very unique.

Braised pork is a common practice. Put the whole cleaned puffer fish into the pot for seasoning and stewing for more than 40 minutes, which can best reflect the fatness of puffer fish. The gelatinous fish skin is very soft and greasy, so it must be eaten while it is hot. It is also a novel experience to roll the prickly side inside and make it sticky and swallow it. It is said that eating like this is like putting clothes on your stomach and nourishing your stomach. If you are lucky enough to meet puffer fish, you must try it. It is fresh, tender, fat and delicious.