Deadly pufferfish a delicacy for Sarawakians
BETONG: The deadly pufferfish is apparently tasty when it is made into curries, grilled or fried.
Those who cook the pufferfish know how to remove the toxin, which is said to be 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide.
The fish, despite its deadly toxin, is sought after by many for its tasty flesh, cooked in curry or spicy tamarind sauce, grilled or fried.
One such person is 56-year-old Dari Sait of Kampung Manggut, Spaoh in Sarawak, who claims to have been handling the yellow pufferfish from the time she was just 20.
“Removing the toxin requires a proper technique. The poison is in the blood vessels.”
“Pufferfish eggs are also delicious. The toxin is found in the egg membrane. Steaming the eggs with bamboo shoots drains away the poison,” she said.
Dari said the yellow pufferfish was popular in the Spaoh area where the people were experts at draining away the toxin and cooking the fish according to their recipes.
According to Assoc Prof Dr Samsur Mohamad, a lecturer at the Department of Aquatic Sciences of the Faculty of Resource Science and Technology of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, people in Japan eat the pufferfish to feel a “sensation”.
“A numbness is felt after eating the fish, and people in Japan seek the numbness when eating the pufferfish,” he said.
Dr Samsur said the season of the yellow pufferfish is between April and October along the Batang Saribas with Kampung Manggut, Spaoh, close to the river as the point of focus.
Fresh yellow pufferfish sell for RM10 per kg, dried pufferfish at RM10 for three fish while the yellow pufferfish eggs cost RM40 per kg.
Mohd Remy Husin, 32, said he catches the pufferfish twice a month during the season using a net or the traditional method of using a tool called sagang.
“When the pufferfish enter the Batang Saribas, fishermen snare them with a net fastened in the middle of the river. During the season, up to 180kg of catches are landed compared to only 10kg during the off-season,” said Mohd Remy who has been catching the fish since he was 12.
Dr Samsur said studies showed that the Batang Saribas area was the focus of the pufferfish because the narrow passage of the river with its many promontories at that stretch was a conducive place for the fish to breed. — Bernama