My SO can’t have legumes because it upsets his stomach (soybeans, edamame, etc.). How hard would it be to travel to Japan and food those food? I was going to get a translator to write us a little card that explains the issue when we order food but we are worried about cross contamination.
Do restaurants cook with soybean oil (or vegetable oil blended with soybeans)?
Are there a lot of food additives like soy lecithin, locust bean gum, carob bean gum, etc in their food?
Thank you!
7 comments
Just the legumes or all legume-derived products? Soybean oil is not a legume.
You’re not easily going to avoid all soy and bean-related products in Japan. Can he eat just white rice, fish, and salads for the whole trip? (No soy sauce, oil or miso dressings or marinades.)
If you plan on eating any Japanese food at all, it probably has some soy sauce in it. He also can’t eat miso, tofu, tonyu (soymilk, which is common in soup). You will be stuck eating non-Japanese food (like pizza, pasta, bread, etc.), and even then it’s risky. You always have the choice to make your own food.
Yakitori is usually grilled with a soy sauce-based sauce. Even if you get the salt type, it will be grilled on the same grill so there will be cross-contamination.
Gonna be honest: Japan is not great when it comes to adhering to food allergy safety. They do not list all of the allergens on their packaged foods and they probably will not be very careful about cross contamination at restaurants. I would stick to the absolute plain basics: plain white rice, plain vegetables, fruit, and try to cook on your own.
If he has a medicine of somesort better to bring it cause the food intolerance he has are mostly main ingredients in jap food. You can try western foods maybe or things he usually eat at home just find a resto that sells that in Japan?
My son is allergic to garlic, pineapple, carrots, all citrus and seafoods, did research on Japanese foods and ingredients to make sure that the food I ordered are fine for him but to be careful still brought meds. It was a bit hard but we managed😅
Research is your friend
Where are you going, what restaurants are available there, what dishes do they serve, things like that.
You know, edamame is soybean, just harvested fresh instead of dry.
I would say azuki bean is likely the second most common, mostly use in a variety of desert in a paste called anko.
Cooking by yourself from scratch would be the only way to completely avoid soy products.