Fugu, the Japanese word for pufferfish, blowfish, balloonfish, globefish or swellfish, is one of the world’s most poisonous fish. The kanji characters used to write fugu 「河豚」 literally translate as “river pig”. The fish is a delicacy in Japan and has been consumed by the Japanese for centuries.

Image source: Just Hungry

Fugu flesh is edible, but the skin, liver and ovaries contain lethal amounts of the poison tetrododoxin. If any of these elements are consumed, then the poison paralyzes the muscles while the victim stays fully conscious, and eventually dies from asphyxiation.

The trick to surviving a fugu meal is to make sure that it is prepared correctly. All traces of the internal organs must be removed from the fish’s flesh, that is why restaurants can only serve fugu if it is prepared by a fully qualified fugu chef.

Because the Japanese have been eating fugu for so long, they have devised many methods of cooking the deadly fish. The most common ways of preparing fugu are as a thinly-sliced sashimi, simmered in vegetables (known as techiri), or deep fried as kara-age. The skin can be served in a salad, and the fins of the fish are also commonly removed, battered, fried and served in sake.

So, if you enjoy playing Russian roulette, chow down on a Filet-O-Fugu today.

If you think that this is weird then check out 10 Weird Japanese Foods for more bizarre morsels of Japanese culinary strangeness such as raw horse meat, aquatic insects, grasshoppers, bee larvae and more. If you are not that adventurous, then check out 10 Cool Japanese Foods for a delicious selection of Japanese fare.

1. Shirako 「白子」(Fish Sperm)

Shirako is the male genitalia of fish, a sack that contains its seminal fluid. A popular dish at most izakaya (Japanese pubs) and sushi bars. A few years back I had my own encounter with fish ejaculate that didn’t end too well.

2. Inago no Tsukudani 「いなごの佃煮」 (Grasshoppers)

“Inago no Tsukudani” is a traditional Japanese insect cuisine popular in the inland rural communities of Yamagata, Nagano and Gunma prefectures.

“Inago” is Japanese for “grasshopper” and when you stew your mouth-watering locust with “tsukudani”, a sweetened soy sauce simmered with mirin, you get the delectable bug banquet – “Inago no Tsukudani”.

3. Basashi 「馬刺し」(Raw Horse Meat)

Due to its deep pink color raw horse meat is called “sakura” or “sakuraniku”. “Sakura” means cherry blossom, “niku” means meat. However, when your equine is ponied up raw in thin sashimi slices it is called “basashi”. The prefectures of Kumamoto, Nagano and Ōita are famous for basashi, and it is common in the Tohoku region as well. Nice with some ranch dressing.

Straight from the horses mouth, there is also a dessert made from horse meat called basashi ice cream. Check out weird Japanese ice cream flavours for more of the craziness.

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