Fugu Me My Fascination Towards The Puffer Fish

Here is a little story about Fugu and my strange fascination for it.

When I was little, my parents took me fishing. However, fishing was not a regular activity we did as a family. And from what memory, I only went fishing a handful of times, which made it even more special.

On one of those unusual occasions, Appa let me hold the fishing road for some time, and I caught a what-the-6yo-old-me thought-as-stone.

It was a Fugu.

Amma got very excited and explained to me about the stone-like fish.

It was a Pufferfish (Fugu), and it’d puff itself if poked. She then told me to go ahead and poke it with my hand (which is not something you should do).

The 6yo old me did it because why wouldn’t I?

And yes, it puffed! Eventually, we then let it loose, back to the ocean because, as Appa said:

“We don’t eat Pufferfish”.

At that time, it made sense because it was small and looked so ugly.

But then I grew up, went to Japan, and learned about the Fugu dining experience. So that fueled my childhood fascination with it.

Is it weird that I want to finish the cycle ━ of catching, letting go and learning more about it — by eating Fugu?

Ps. On the same note, I also fished and learned about jellyfish that day, which I ate in Beijing. Curiosity satiated. Fugu will be next. It’s on my bucket list.

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