Fish Tales

Hello again everyone,
I'd first like to let everyone know that I changed the settings on the comment page.
You no longer need to have a blogger account or anything to leave a comment.
Just type in the box and click 'post', but be sure to leave your name so I know who you are.

Alright,
So I have two fish related things to tell you about today.
Last week I went out with a group of about ten students for some Japanese food.
But this wasn't just your typical Japanese restaurant.
This place let you fish for you own meal.
As you can see from the first picture, the place was designed to look like two large boats.
The fish swim around in the large tank that surrounds the boats.


Although it would be possible to fish over the edge of the "boats" from the tables, it might be a bit difficult, not to mention dangerous, to get a flapping fish from your rod into the net without unintentionally splashing or hurting someone.
So the restaurant had a designated fishing area to fish from.
Along with a few small tanks filled with eels and other small fish that would probably be impossible to catch otherwise.

It didn't take long for our group to get a few fish, and just minutes later, they were cut up into sashimi and served.

As you can see this fish was displayed along with the meat.
I guess you know it's fresh when the tail is still twitching slightly when it's served.
Here's a squid we caught as well.

Just this last Tuesday, I got another chance to have a unique fish-related experience.
I went out with a few friends to a fugu restaurant.
Fugu is pufferfish. It's kind of a famous dish in Japan mainly because the fish itself contains a deadly neurotoxin.
If the fish is prepared incorrectly, and you ingest some of the toxin, it can result in paralysis followed by death.
I guess it's lethality must be what makes it so expensive.
We just ordered a small plate of fugu.

The fugu was sliced quite thin, probably for good reason.

Here's some sashimi we ordered as well for comparison.
The orange stuff on top of the cucumbers is sea urchin.

Overall I thought the fugu tasted pretty good, but there wasn't really much of it to taste.
But it guess I can say it's the most dangerous thing I've ever eaten.
Right after we ate, a few of us thought we might be feeling a bit dizzy, but I'm pretty sure it was just in our heads.
Wikipedia says that most deaths occur within 4-24 hours after consuming it, so I should be fine...
Below some Sake my friend ordered that came with a fugu fin in it.


I will post some more within the next couple days and let you know how things are going.
But for now feel free to leave a comment.
じゃまた