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Fish and seafood from Japan

Fugu no ko nukazukeふぐの子糠漬け

Pufferfish ovaries, which are normally lethal because of tetrodotoxin, are packed in heavy salt for about half a year to a year and a half, then washed and pickled under a weight in rice bran with rice koji, chilli and the fish sauce ishiru. After about three years in all, batches that pass a toxin test may be sold. Some toxin remains in the finished food.

Fully documentedFish and seafood12 months – 2.5 years

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe tradition has no published fixed amounts. The salt figure is the one given for the Mikawa makers' 1,000-litre salting tanks (Itagaki 2005).
Pufferfish ovariesSeparated from the flesh; the fish are processed in April–June and September[maff-fugunoko][itagaki2005][mhlw2019]
SaltA large amount, said to be about 30 %, in a 1,000-litre tank; the finished product is very salty[maff-fugunoko][itagaki2005][mhlw2019]
Rice bran, rice koji and chilli[maff-fugunoko][itagaki2005]
Ishiru (sardine fish sauce)Poured in from the edge of the wooden lid from time to time[maff-fugunoko][itagaki2005]
Starterrice koji is packed in with the bran

Total time across the recorded steps: 12 months – 2.5 years

Start
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What changes: Starting material: pufferfish ovaries, separated from the flesh

Step 1 of 5
Separate the ovaries
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
T. muriaticus
Lactic acid bacteria

Gomafugu caught off the Sea of Japan coast in May and June are cut up and the ovaries taken out; near Ishikawa the fugu are processed in April–June and September. Only holders of a fugu cook's licence may do this work.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Pufferfish ovaries, which are normally lethal because of tetrodotoxin, are packed in heavy salt for about half a year to a year and a half, then washed and pickled under a weight in rice bran with rice koji, chilli and the fish sauce ishiru. After about three years in all, batches that pass a toxin test may be sold. Some toxin remains in the finished food. Made in 5 steps over 12 months – 2.5 years. The longest step, salt the ovaries, takes 6–18 months (MAFF Japan). Salt is 30 % (Itagaki E. 2005). Tetragenococcus muriaticus, the main lactic acid bacterium in the bran-pickled ovaries does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step6–18 monthsReported[maff-fugunoko][itagaki2005]Salt the ovaries
Salt30 %Reported[itagaki2005]Salt the ovaries

What makes this one different

Fugu no ko nukazuke is made from an organ that is lethal raw. It is salted for far longer than heshiko or other bran-pickled fish, and every barrel is tested for tetrodotoxin before sale.

Related ferments

Safety

Never try this at home. Raw pufferfish ovaries hold 10² to 10³ MU/g of tetrodotoxin (Itagaki 2005), a deadly poison (MAFF). Japan's health ministry says rubbing with salt, soaking in water or heating does not remove it, and food law bans selling or serving puffer ovaries, apart from the salted products its notice allows. Only holders of a fugu cook's licence may make this food in Ishikawa, and each barrel is checked for toxin before sale (MAFF). A Japanese health ministry research report gives 10 MU/g as the regulation value for fugu ovary bran pickles and says its scientific basis is not well verified (Suzuki, FY2019). How the toxin falls is not settled. Lab work found no toxin breakdown by the bran microbes (Kobayashi et al. 2003), while later work detected falling tetrodotoxin and an analogue during the bran stage (Enomoto). Two reports from the same group disagree on how the finished products measure. In the FY2019 report, instrument analysis converted all six makers' products to 10 MU/g or less. In the FY2020 report, with a new sample clean-up method, five of the six converted above 10 MU/g, although mouse tests of those samples stayed under it; the authors think salt makes the mouse test understate the toxicity (Suzuki, FY2020). Both reports say no poisoning has been traced to licensed makers' products. The finished food is not toxin-free. The FY2019 samples still held the equivalent of 3.5 to 6.9 MU/g.

Hazards the sources name: Clostridium, a major part of the flora of the bran-pickled ovaries; Tetrodotoxin in the raw ovaries (10² to 10³ MU/g), a deadly poison; some remains in the finished food.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The bran method is said to have started with fugu brought from Hokkaido, pickled in bran as ship's food and winter food. When the 1983 change to the Food Sanitation Act ordered all fugu viscera discarded, Ishikawa makers were allowed to continue, because it is a Kaga industry going back to the Edo period with no recorded accidents (MAFF). Health ministry research reports for fiscal 2019 and 2020 (Suzuki) again note that no poisoning has been traced to licensed makers' products, and test six makers' products by instrument analysis.

  1. [maff-fugunoko] MAFF Japan, Nippon dentōshoku zukan, ふぐの子のぬか漬け (Ishikawa)gov
  2. [itagaki2005] Itagaki E. 2005, フグの子糠漬け (Fugu no ko nukazuke), Kagaku to Kōgyō 58(12):1415paper
  3. [mhlw2019] Suzuki T. 2020, Study on risk management of tetrodotoxin (テトロドトキシンのリスク管理のための研究), FY2019 (Reiwa 1) final report of the Health and Labour Sciences Research Grant (Food Safety), project 201924011A, Fisheries Research and Education Agency for the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfarepaper
  4. [mhlw2020] Suzuki T. 2021, Study on risk management of tetrodotoxin (テトロドトキシンのリスク管理のための研究), FY2020 (Reiwa 2) final report of the Health and Labour Sciences Research Grant (Food Safety), project 202024013A, Fisheries Research and Education Agency for the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfarepaper
  5. [kaken-enomoto] Enomoto T. (Ishikawa Prefectural University) 2015–2016, Why is puffer ovary detoxified by traditional processing method?, KAKENHI project 15K14739, final research outlinegov
  6. [kobayashi2003] Kobayashi T., Kimura B., Fujii T. 2003, Possibility of toxin declination by microbiological metabolism during manufacture of puffer fish ovaries fermented with rice-bran, Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 69(5):782-786 (abstract)paper
  7. [mhlw-safe-fugu] Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, 安全なフグを提供しましょう (Serving safe fugu)gov