Behind the Counter at a local Japanese Poisonous Puffer Fish Fugu Restaurant

This is behind the counter at a Japanese

Fugu restaurant

good morning everyone I have a fun one

for you today because I’m taking you

behind the counter at a super local

family-run boo restaurant this is

actually the first time I’ve ever seen

it in prison so I’m excited to take you

along for the ride all we have to do now

is just wait for the fugu to arrive

in Tokyo super local sumioshi Ginza

shopping Street located in just three

minutes from sumioshi station you’ll

find a family-owned live Fugu specialty

restaurant koshiji Fugu also called

puffer fish or Blowfish is a luxury food

dish in Japan most famously known for

its poisonous organs that if eaten can

easily lead to death and why only lights

and chefs are able to prepare today I’m

taking you behind the counter to show

you how this deadly fish is served in

Japan

good morning

hey wait are we supposed to get the fugu

delivery right now actually just got

into the car and I thought they were

going to be delivering the figure this

morning but as it turns out the shop

waited to take me along for the fugu

pickup a bit unexpected but I’m always

down for a ride to the toyosu fish

market so this is your Madison the first

generation owner who started the fuku

shop and this is his son so everyone has

family here right so doesn’t it

damn that’s three Generations

[Music]

and here we are toyozu fish market which

is generally closed to the public so he

first disposes of The doku Poisoned from

the fugu removed from the previous days

apparently you can’t just throw out

toxic organs as you would regular food

waste in Japan but rather it must be

brought to a place like this for proper

disposal

now the family head to the live market

to buy their Fugu

so your Madison has been running his

figure restaurant for 45 years now and

at the age of 75 he’s slowly handing

over the Reigns to his children and

grandchildren while ever appreciating

their time spent together even at the

market at one of the few Tokyo licensed

Fugu wholesalers

do you guys come here every time

I see

it

45 years coming to the market huh

oh wow it’s a special day then the

vendors must be happy to see him

how old they’re buying fergusiako and

fillets for the side dishes shiraku also

known as milk or softrow is a highly

prized food item in Japan and often sold

even in department stores

now they’re gonna visit another one of

the regular vendors to see if they can

make more purchases

well I guess they’re already sold out

for today at least your mother-son got

to reconnect with some of his old

vendors

[Music]

where are you going now

wet whistles it’s a massive fish tank

area filled with Fugu all the fish

purchased are gathered here categorized

by the buyers and then loaded into the

truck with sea water

apparently fuku is most popular and

naturally in season during the winter so

the shop visits the market two to three

times a week while out of season there’s

less demand so the shop visits the

market about once a week in general

though compared to other types of fish

restaurants everyday visits are not

required since the shop has their own

tanks to keep the food group fresh at

all times the shirakudo is only

available during the winter how many

Fugu did you buy today

oh snap and what’s the market price for

one

that’ll set you back all right hello

[Music]

now everyone works quickly as a team to

move all of the fugu to the Shop’s tanks

where they’re kept until just before

they’re prepared so yamada-san along

with his wife originally started a

seafood shop but after four years turned

it exclusively into a fukushop and it

eventually turned into a family business

in the truest sense yamadison says that

he never expected his children to join

the business but is truly grateful for

all of their support over the years

[Music]

and that’s your Madison’s wife aka the

female master in Japanese Okami over

time she’s mastered how to skillfully

grill the fins of the fugu which is used

to make their traditional Japanese hot

sake drink called hirezake

she says that each Fugu has four

different sizes of fin so it’s critical

to master how each one is grilled under

the intense heat for perfect results

I see

[Music]

oh these are the freshly cut bins before

they’re grilled and they need to be

dried now

[Music]

it’s about three days to completely dry

in sunny conditions the fins are used in

the hot sake to create a unique and

distinct flavor and demonstrates how

much effort goes into using every

consumable part of the fugu

around 11 30 a.m the family finally have

a lunch break together what are you guys

eating

I love bentos so how did you start

working here

[Music]

you joined Young

and this is your mother son’s daughter

so how long have you been working here

did you do something else before this

is

hey

[Music]

I’ll let them eat their lunch in peace

but as soon as they’re done let me ask

another question so what do you usually

do after lunch

wait YouTube

the entire family lives in the building

[Music]

now a couple hours before the first

dinner reservation the family starts

their prep

[Music]

the Sun starts with cutting the hakusai

Cabbage for the hot pot he himself

originally worked in accounting but at

35 decided to work with a family as a

chef so do you have a hobby

you go watch games

with your kids

[Music]

I seen what about your wife

oh wow what kind of programming okay

[Music]

oh the daughter’s making Nico goody a

jellied broth appetizer which uses the

fugu skin

why are you doing that

damn that’s a lot of love going into

preparing a small appetizer

now the chef prepares the skin making

sure not to waste any parts the skin

itself has spikes embedded throughout

which have not removed would feel like

biting into tiny little rocks so the

chefs runs quite a bit of time and

effort to skillfully scrape it off

creating a unique and edible texture

so let me ask has anyone ever got sick

here before amazing a lot of people get

scared of the poison though

it’s true that poison from food is a

thousand times stronger than cyanide so

it progresses very rapidly and finally

once consumed first numbness in the

mouth then vomiting difficulty breathing

paralysis and finally death all within

four to six hours quite a scary way to

go but due to government licensing

there’s only about one death per year in

Japan and usually it’s because someone

unlicensed decided to prepare it on

their own at home so yeah no-brainer if

you’re gonna eat food in Japan eat it

safely at a chef licensed restaurant

and here’s your mother-son overseeing

the team from the counter so why

fugues

okay can I see your license

wow you look super young

so to get a Frugal license you must pass

a written in Hands-On test after going

through electric course held at the

poison removal facility with a two-year

working experience prerequisite and his

grandson is finally scheduled to take

the test this year to help continue on

the family business

hey what are you thinking about while

you’re cutting

really

so how do you feel about them continuing

on the family business

that’s family so what do you feel

special about the food here

no cap and what’s your favorite food

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oh Yamada son is finally in the kitchen

originally from negata prefecture he

moved to Tokyo when he was 22 and

started the restaurant when he was

around 30. he used to do all of the prep

with the help of his wife but these days

though he allows the other Chef to

remove the fugu’s toxic organs while he

enjoys focusing on prepping the Fugu

Sashimi a highlight of the course meal

how’s business these days

what about summer

oh that’s dope what do you do like where

you want to go tomorrow

where do I apply in Japan it’s where for

a restaurant to take such a long

vacation every year but due to fluke is

low season the family business can take

advantage of this time

thank you

hey

[Music]

oh 30 minutes to open in the kitchen’s

buzzing what happened

I love happy screams and here we go time

to prep the fugu and remove the poison

fair warning if you don’t like to see

Fish getting filleted skip to this time

stamp three two one first an accurate

Blow To The Head to immediately render

the fish insensible he then quickly cuts

a mouth for safety

followed by the fin skin and then all

the toxic organs

is wasted as a chef swiftly and

methodically cuts through the fugu

taking careful account which parts can

be eaten and which parts are fatally

toxic

and to ensure the chef has removed all

the poisonous organs they use these tags

for labeling once all the parts are

collected they’re frozen until they’re

taken to the poison disposal facility

the next time they visit the market so

what happens if you eat this this

ah true dad

now your Madison works on the Sashimi

while the sun works on the shabu-shabu

is there really a difference between the

sashimi and the Shabu Shabu news

got it

so the Sashimi requires an extra step to

remove the skin while the shabu-shabu

doesn’t since the skin is edible when

heated

interestingly when he started the shop

was much smaller but became quite a

popular spot for locals at the time it

was only Yamada son and his wife and

they couldn’t keep up with the customers

so many helped out by pouring their own

drinks and even writing down their

orders to this day they’re still

grateful for all the support they

received from their customers and in

fact after expanding to a new location

three of the regular customers joined

the restaurant are you particular about

the knife you use oh really so it can be

anything

yeah dull knives are no fun and how long

have you been using your thinner Fugu

knives

foreign

[Music]

as expected the reservation customers

are right on time

[Music]

usually the shop will present the live

food to the customers just before

preparation but since these are his

regulars they asked to have their set

course ready and served right when they

arrive

is there anything you want to say to

everyone

yeah you gotta try it at least once the

food itself is a white fish which is

densely textured when raw so it’s cut

transparently thin but it’s soft and

Airy when cooked it’s best eaten as

fresh as possible as it quickly loses

taste as time passes a very unique and

elegant Japanese dining experience when

prepared by a skilled chef

oh he’s making the hirazaki now so do

you drink what’s your poison

can you drink a lot what do you guys oh

really

oh

and here comes a part-time worker

[Applause]

cool they’re showing the fugu to the

customers apparently in Japan the mark

of a skilled Fugu Chef is literally

displayed through the intricately

colored plate designs used for serving

as only a Seasoned Chef can cut through

the fugu thin enough for the designs to

show through the slices of fugu ready

since everyone is so busy let’s go talk

to the customers excuse me can I talk to

you guys all right so do you come here a

lot

[Music]

damn that’s a long time

nice what’s your favorite okay

shabu-shabu and a hot pot I guess no

words required thank you guys

hi can I bother you come on you you come

here often

that’s a long time why do you like it

here

so what’s your favorite dishes

yes of course thanks have a great time

you guys look super busy

[Music]

and this video is a bit special since my

family is joining for this one to share

the fugu dinner with me obviously I

can’t finish all this food delicious

food all by myself so yeah that’s

another one in the books if you want to

visit this shop and experience it for

yourself I’ll be sure to leave a link in

the description alright so that is

behind the counter at a local Japanese

fuku restaurant if you guys like this

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catch you guys in the next time