Fugu workshop

• Night
• Shonai

See first hand the incredibly intricate art of one of the culinary world’s most daring and delicious delicacies! Fugu or “Japanese pufferfish” is an incredibly poisonous fish with dazzling white delicious meat that can only be prepared by the top washoku (Japanese cuisine) chefs.

Due to the dangerous nature of the fish, top chefs in Japan must undergo a minimum of 7 years of training to prepare this Japanese delicacy. Luckily however, this experience is led by Chef Suda, a veteran fugu chef with over 18 years of experience preparing and cooking the Fugu.

The experience starts by venturing into the Kamo Aquarium where will see some of the tora fugu (tiger pufferfish) on display. The tora fugu is native to this region and 90% of all wild-caught fugu in Japan come from here in Shonai. After returning to Chef Suda’s restaurant, he will show the fugu he will prepare as well as his personal collection set of knives that are specifically made for preparing fugu. Some of these knives are worth over $1,500 and have been specially crafted according to the height and hand size of Chef Suda.

What makes the fugu so dangerous is the shockingly large amount of tetrodotoxin, a potent neurotoxin that can kill a human even in small doses, that each fish contains. Chef Suda will first remove these from the pufferfish and then continue to demonstrate how he breaks apart the bony body of the fish so that he can access the treasured white meat.

While trying fugu sounds like a daunting experience to some, there is no need to be nervous as licensed fugu chefs such as Chef Suda must undergo years of intensive training to prepare and serve fugu, and cases of fugu poisoning from these chefs are extremely rare. In this region alone, it has been over 10 years since a diner suffered minor poisoning that required a short visit to the hospital.

After removing the bones and toxins of the fish, Suda will then extract the meat of the fugu and prepare to plate it into his signature dish where he arranges fugu into a beautiful work of art.

Participants will then have their own chance to try to cut and plate their own fugu under the careful direction of Chef Suda with one of his prized hibiki knives.

Finally everyone will enjoy a tantalizingly delicious fugu meal together with the chef.