Pufferfish is a luxury winter delicacy in Japan, but a license is required to prepare and serve fugu, as the fish is called in Japanese, since any bite potentially contains a lethal toxic surprise.
Fugu is not commonly consumed in many other countries, but Vu Thuy Linh, a Vietnamese researcher at a university near Tokyo, hopes to cultivate the culinary art of the pufferfish in her Southeast Asian nation to create a bridge between the two countries.
In Vietnam, a country with a long north-south coastline, about 60 species of fugu are believed to inhabit local waters, but national law has banned the sale and consumption of them since 2013, as a number of poisoning incidents have been reported due to unfamiliarity with how to handle the fish.