Fugu

Fugu is the Japanese word for a fish known as pufferfish, blowfish, or globefish. The fish is infamous for its poisonous parts that contain the lethal poison tetrodotoxin, highly concentrated in the liver, ovaries, eyes, and skin. Trained chefs who want to prepare fugu must undergo scrutinized testing and licensing that is done at local government level.

However, some people prefer the light numbing sensation that the fugu toxin produces, so they ask the chefs to serve them small parts of the toxic organs. In Japan, fugu is usually consumed in specialized restaurants that serve a complete meal which typically includes several courses of the fish served in varying ways, such as fugu sashimi, boiled fugu chiri, fugu rice porridge, or deep-fried fugu.

Although this intriguing fish is almost synonymous with Japan, it is occasionally found in American and South Korean cuisine.