My family and I are planning a trip to Japan some time soon, for a single month, and it turns out, luckily enough, that one of us has a Shiitake Mushroom allergy. I have seen a post on this subreddit about undercooked/raw shiitake mushrooms, however, the person that has the allergy is allergic to them cooked, most likely from the lentinan or something else.
Obviously, shiitake is not in EVERYTHING that you eat, but I am wondering to what extent will this impact shared dishes, such as Shabu Shabu or Sukiyaki, or anything that is shared that MAY contain this mushroom.
Obviously I won’t be as keen on going if the effects will plague our meals (no offense to them, but I want to try a lot of food), but I will be unaffected if it’s easily brushed off or something that is 1 in 100 type of thing.
TL:DR Someone allergic to Shiitake Mushrooms, how much will it effect the trip?
Feel free to delete this post if it breaks any guidelines/rules.
3 comments
Just Shiitake? Surely it’s all mushrooms?.
Print off a card that says I am allergic to shittake mushrooms in Japanese.
This is such a specific allergy though, I’ve never heard of this
Do you know how the allergy manifests and how serious it is?
Shiitake mushroom is a common ingredient in flavourings. It’s used for example in okonomiyaki sauce, but likely tiny amounts, and will also be found in some savoury prepackaged foods. Mushrooms are not one of the required allergen listings, with the exception of matsutake mushrooms which are part of the expanded allergen list in Japan. That means they could be “hidden” anywhere like broths, dashi, sauces, curries, etc. Dashi especially is tricky because it is used in practically all levels of cooking, and very commonly will contain shiitake mushrooms.