A Japanese 10-year-old has become the youngest person to have the right to prepare “fugu” pufferfish — a delicacy that can kill if its poisonous parts are not properly removed.
Fifth grader Karin Tabira passed a test this summer which means she is now certified to slice and chew the fish for consumption.
She recently used her new skills to serve a platter of paper-thin slices of fugu sashimi to the governor of the southern Kumamoto region where she lives.
“I was happy when the governor said ‘oishi,'” which means delicious in Japanese, she told reporters at an event where Takashi Kimura ate the dish.
Tabira was among 60 people – mostly professional chefs – who passed the test in the Yamaguchi region this summer, out of 93 people who tried.
Clearing the obstacle was part of “a nice summer vacation,” she said.
Fugu, which is more toxic than cyanideare often served raw at high-end restaurants in Japan, where chefs must hold a license that proves they can safely slice around organs containing a deadly poison.
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Sometimes unlicensed individuals eat fugu caught in the sea and die.
Yamaguchi has no age limit to take the fugu test, but in Kumamoto, Kimura can only cook fugu dishes in the company of an authorized adult.
Tabira’s interest was piqued by news that a sixth-grader in another region passed the test, and she has been training since February at Fukunari, a Kumamoto-based farm and wholesaler.
She used a hammer to drive her butcher knife through the fugu’s hard bones and “had to stand on a platform to use the kitchen counter,” Fukunari boss Yuki Hirao told AFP.
“Even our adult staff can fail the test. For a 10-year-old to pass the test first time is amazing,” she said.
In 2018, a city in Japan issued emergency warnings to prevent people from eating pufferfish, after potentially fatal portions were accidentally sold, BBC reported.
Earlier this year, a Man in Brazil reportedly died after eating pufferfish given to him as a present.