The first character “gen” in tora-fugu (tiger pufferfish) specialist’s name, Genpin, means “mysterious beauty”.   It’s precisely why the restaurant’s name was chosen, so as to shed light on and spread the word of this rare delicacy — one that is so dangerously poisonous that it requires a special license from the Japanese government to prepare and serve.   

But guests can rest assured that they are in good hands with Genpin’s chefs, all of whom are fully licensed and trained to fillet the famously poisonous fish. Just 23 years after establishing its first store in Fujiidera, Osaka, it now has over 70 stores across Japan, letting curious locals and tourists alike have a taste.   Genpin uses two types of tiger pufferfish in its cuisine: wild and farmed. The wild tora-fugu is sourced from suppliers in Shimonoseki, the westernmost city on Japan’s central island of Honshu, and the tora-fugu capital of the country.   

In the off season, however, Genpin prefers to use farmed tora-fugu, specially reared and prepared using their proprietary patented methods that are collectively known as “Genpin technology”. A modern, scientific approach to raising, storing and aging the pufferfish have resulted in Genpin producing tora-fugu that have even more glutamic acid content — the key ingredient results in umami — than even wild-caught pufferfish.  

This lets Genpin delight its customers with its signature tora-fugu dishes all year round without compromising on quality, from Kansai tecchiri hotpot to sashimi to even deep-fried. Regardless of how it’s prepared, each dish goes perfectly with the house’s ponzu sauce, made by mixing their original honjozo soy sauce with sudachi and yuzu juice from Tokushima.