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

this is behind the counter at a Japanese Fugu restaurant [Music] 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 so before we continue on I'm going to give a quick shout out to the sponsor of this video Squarespace if y'all don't already know Squarespace is the number one way to build your online presence I use Squarespace from my website Tokyo zebra here are just some of the reasons why I love using Squarespace so much whether you're starting your passion project or building a business Squarespace has all the tools to get it done while also looking Ultra sleek and professional at the same time they support numerous portfolios and gallery designs which you can customize and even password protects so the right people see your work use its fully integrated blogging tools and commenting features such as threaded comments replies and likes to help engage your community and my personal favorite built-in analytics to see how your video visit unique visitors and Page views Trend over time so go to squarespace.com today for your free trial and when you're ready to launch go to squarespace.com forward slash Paula from Tokyo and get 10 off your first domain or website 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 video like always help me out and hit that like button if you guys want to help me with the channel check out the token merch and if you guys want to see more videos like this or anything related to Japan hit that subscribe button in the Bell button and we'll catch you guys in the next time

Channel: Paolo fromTOKYO

Views: 1,821,702

Keywords: Paolo, Japan, Japan guide, Japan travel, tokyo, tokyo guide, tokyo travel, japanese food, japan food, puffer fish, japanese seafood, behind the counter, japanese food tour, japan food tour, japan fugu, japan food documentary, tokyo hidden spots, eating pufferfish, poisonous fish, poison fugu, fugu sashimi, fugu fish, fugu hotpot, fugu skin, japanese food craftsman, food documentary, tokyo hidden gems, puffer fish cooking, pufferfish eating, food documentary japan, koshiji

Id: 2sbbqq50cjA

Length: 16min 58sec (1018 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 27 2023