Japan Sends Out Sushi Squad

Chef served dangerous dish without license, cops say

(AP) - World travelers, take note. Blowfish testicles prepared by an unauthorized chef have sickened seven diners in northern Japan, three of whom remain hospitalized. The owner of the Tsuruoka restaurant had no license to serve blowfish and was being questioned on suspicion of professional negligence. Blowfish poison, called tetrodotoxin, is nearly 100 times more poisonous than potassium cyanide. It can kill in 90 minutes. More»

Leftovers are frowned upon at Wafu

(NEWSER) - Don’t even think about asking for a doggie bag at Australian restaurant Wafu. The chef not only charges diners who don’t finish their meal 30% more than diners who do, but she also asks them not to return. “Finishing your meal requires that everything is eaten except lemon slices, gari (sushi ginger), and wasabi,” reads an explanation on the restaurant door. More»

Filmmakers go undercover to find illegal whale meat

(NEWSER) - The makers of The Cove, the Oscar-winning documentary about dolphin killing in Japan, have aimed their cameras closer to home in a sting to expose illegal whale meat served at a California sushi joint. The operation began in October, when they heard rumors that the Hump, a Santa Monica restaurant, was selling the endangered Sei whale. After identifying the meat and alerting federal authorities, the filmmakers decided to revisit the restaurant when they were all in town for the Oscars, the New York Times reports. More»

Endangered tuna yields to farmed variety, humbler fish

(NEWSER) - As bluefin gets ever closer to extinction and governments mull a ban on international trade in the prized tuna, some restaurants are taking it off the menu. Others are sticking with the old favorite because it's what customers expect, but converts embrace the change. “It forces me to be much more creative,” one chef tells the Boston Globe . “In my experience, if you stick to what you actually believe in, people will follow you.” More»

(NEWSER) - You might suspect a sushi restaurant that doesn’t specify what sort of tuna you’re eating of trying to pawn off an inferior species. Not so. Researchers using novel DNA barcoding technology found that though nearly a third of tuna sold in 31 US restaurants was the prized—and endangered—bluefin. But just 8 of the 22 bluefin samples were accurately labeled. More»