Food Allergies in Vancouver: Sushi, Dim Sum, Spot Prawns

Food allergies in Vancouver meet a coastal city with deep sushi and dim sum traditions, so fish, crustaceans, molluscs, sesame, soy, peanuts and eggs can all land on a single table. Canada's priority list names each of them, and a plated dish carries no package to read. Your doctor decides what is right for you.

Take three of the city's food traditions one at a time as allergy questions, then keep your own notes.

What does a sushi menu mean for food allergies in Vancouver?

A counter like that is a map of allergens: fish, soy sauce, sesame on rolls and rice, and often a mayonnaise-based sauce with egg. The California roll wraps avocado and imitation crab in nori, usually with toasted sesame seeds on the outside, and who created it is disputed between a Vancouver chef and several Los Angeles claimants.

The wrapped crab is usually imitation, which is made from fish, so a roll that sounds like shellfish may be a fish question instead. Ask what each roll contains, what the sauce is and whether the knife and board are shared between fish and other items. Our guide to the styles explains the menu.

Soy sauce on the side is a habit worth watching. A small dish of it is passed along a counter, and a shared dish or a shared brush is a shared surface. If you are choosing a set, ask about the pieces one at a time, and ask the person making them to change gloves and knife, because a quiet request at the start is easier than a correction halfway through.

How do crustaceans differ from molluscs?

Health Canada lists crustaceans such as crab, crayfish, lobster, prawns and shrimp, and clams, mussels, oysters and scallops as examples of the second group, along with abalone, conch, octopus, squid and geoduck. Health Canada says allergies to one seafood type may not extend to others, that some people can eat fish and react to crustaceans, and that reactions to both groups are the exception. It advises talking to your allergist before trying others.

Mosey's Canadian list shows the two groups as separate choices for this reason. At a Vancouver seafood table, say which group you mean: a server who hears "shellfish" may think of only one.

Where do shrimp and spot prawns come in?

The spot prawn is a species of true shrimp, so it is a crustacean, and British Columbia's coast is known for it, with a short season in spring. A dish with whole prawns, a bisque or a prawn paste is a question about crustaceans, and the shells may be used in stocks and sauces. Our guide to the season explains when they arrive.

Ask about stocks and sauces made from shells, and about fryers shared with battered seafood. A pan that cooks prawns also touches whatever follows, so ask for a clean one, and ask whether the garnish or the broth was made from shells.

What should you ask at a dim sum table?

Dim sum is a large range of small Chinese dishes, wrapped in dough or thin wrappers and steamed, deep-fried or pan-fried. Classics include shrimp dumplings (a crustacean), an egg custard tart, a ball of chewy dough coated in sesame seeds, rice noodle rolls often served with sweetened soy sauce, and a steamed dumpling with peanuts.

That puts crustaceans, egg, wheat, sesame, soy and peanuts within reach of one cart. Because dishes arrive in baskets and are shared, ask the server about each one when it is placed down, and keep your own plate and chopsticks separate. Our guide to how the service works has more.

How do you ask about sauces and shared plates?

Short, specific questions work for a communal meal.

• Is there peanut or sesame in this sauce or filling?
• Is this cooked in a shared fryer or on a shared steamer tray?
• Can my portion be served on its own plate?

Sharing makes cross-contact easier, since serving spoons move between dishes, and a table of friends may not notice. Tell the table about your allergy at the start, and keep the question friendly and quick. If the cart is moving, ask the server to stop and check rather than guessing from the name of a dish, because the names of fillings vary from kitchen to kitchen and the same basket can hold different things on different days.

How can Mosey help you keep notes in Vancouver?

Rate the dish, not only the place, and note what the kitchen said about the sauce, the stock or the fryer. Tags are one diner's note on one visit, never a promise. Follow friends who share your allergy to see what they rated and saved, and keep a shared list of questions to ask.

The app can hide dishes whose place has listed an allergen you choose, such as sesame or fish. A dish with nothing filled in stays visible and says it is not listed, the filter works on dishes and never on places, and the choice stays on your phone. See ratings and lists.

What else covers Vancouver?

More reading: the Halifax allergy guide, the oysters guide, shellfish allergy in Charlottetown and the Canadian food guides.

Mosey costs a place nothing to list, has no hidden fees and offers affordable tools, which supports local kitchens along the coast. A place can declare its allergens for each dish in its own dashboard.

Eating your way across British Columbia? The Food in British Columbia page links every town we cover.

Before your next meal in Vancouver, get the Mosey app, rate the dish you ate and keep a list of the answers.