When is the best season to eat pufferfish?

Food like puffer fish tastes very delicious and can be used to make many dishes. It is deeply loved by everyone. In addition, this food is rich in protein. If people consume it, they can supplement some of the protein that is lacking in their bodies. It can also lower blood pressure and prevent the three high diseases. It can be eaten in any season.

The muscles of puffer fish are as white as frost, the meat is rich in flavor, tender and tasty, high in protein and rich in nutrients. Japan, North Korea and China in Asia all love to eat puffer fish; everyone who has tasted it praises it: "If you don't eat puffer fish, you don't know the taste of fish." Eating puffer fish meat, in addition to enjoying its deliciousness, can also lower blood pressure, treat soreness of the waist and legs, and restore energy. To eat pufferfish, the meat must first be kept fresh and the processing must be extremely strict.

The method is to cut the fish body open along the spine, tear off the skin, chop off the head, dig out the internal organs, wash the fish meat repeatedly in clean water, and thoroughly remove the blood before eating. The toxins of pufferfish are mainly distributed in the ovaries and liver, followed by the kidneys, blood, eyes, gills and skin; while the testicles and muscles are non-toxic. If the fish has been dead for a long time, the toxins in its internal organs will dissolve into its body fluids and gradually seep into its muscles. The amount of toxicity of the toxin often varies with the seasons. The ovaries develop from February to May each year and are highly toxic; after laying eggs from June to July, the ovaries degenerate and the toxicity weakens.

The liver is also most toxic during the spring spawning period. Therefore, whenever you eat puffer fish in late spring or early summer, you should be particularly careful. You must choose fresh fish and strictly remove the internal organs to avoid poisoning. The export price of one ton of fresh puffer fish meat is as high as more than 3,000 US dollars. In Japan, live fish costs more than RMB 40 per kilogram and is in short supply. In order to meet the Japanese people's demand for puffer fish, relevant Japanese agencies have negotiated with relevant Chinese parties on many occasions, hoping to import puffer fish from China.

In addition to eating fresh, it can also be pickled and made into salted and dried products, which are safer to eat. The pickling method is: add 5-10% salt to the cleaned fish meat and marinate it, then dry it in the sun after half a month. If a certain amount of alkaline substances, such as sodium carbonate, are added during the pickling process, it can more effectively destroy tetrodotoxin.