Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Canada2Korea]

As someone who is allergic to peanuts I was wondering if there are any other foreigners who have had to deal with this restriction and if so, how much of a problem was it? I have heard mixed reviews as to the amount of peanuts/peanut oil in Korean cooking- anyone here have insight into the frequency of its use?

[ThePoet]

It's a double edged sword. I am not allergic to anything, but I once told my university students about a time when I was subbing at an elementary school and during lunchbreak, one student started chasing another around the room with a peanut butter sandwich. It was a bully who knew the other kid was allergic to peanuts and wanted to have some fun at his expense. The bully was suspended for a week. The kid with the allergy actually had to inject himself when the sandwich got to close and he smelled the peanut butter. There were serious discussions about actually charging him with attempted murder under the young offenders act, but I don't think it happened as I was never called as a witness.

Well, the students I told this to thought it was good fun and nudged each other in the sides and (I think) discussed in Korean about how cool that would be. So much for trying to teach about understanding and compassion.

So I don't know if you should come here or not with the peanut allergy. Yes there are many dishes in which they do use peanut oil to cook with (Duk-galbi comes to mind immediately), and I don't think they'd change the recipe for some random foreigner, and in fact, based on the reaction of my university students, you might find yourself being chased with an open jar of PB if it became common knowledge you had an allergy of that type.

I hope for the best for you,

Poet

[pkang0202]

You better have shots ready. If if you DO make it known to your school or restaurants that you are allergic to Peanuts, chances are someone's gonna forget.

I got a neighbor who is allergic to mushrooms and he has told his school he could die if he ingests them. School's response "Why don't you just pick the mushrooms out."

[Bramble]

I've never had any experience with life-threatening allergies, but I know that at times I've ingested ingredients I didn't want to consume, either because I'd received assurances something was "safe" and (stupidly) took the person's word for it, or because I assumed the item "must be safe" instead of checking (as I obviously should have).

IMO, you'll have to be very careful about eating anything you haven't prepared yourself ... just take total responsibility for your own food and don't expect anyone in a restaurant or cafeteria to understand what you need. You may want to stay out of restaurants altogether, or else look around for a few that can be trusted to accommodate you.

Of course your allergy shouldn't deter you from coming to Korea. You have to face all the same challenges at home, don't you? Just exercise the same caution that you would anywhere ... but maybe be a little extra cautious since you're in a new environment and will have problems communicating. Good luck.

[Bramble]

Also, if you're not used to Korean food and you eat in a regular Korean restaurant, you may be served peanuts in an unrecognizable form. Sometimes they're ground into a powder and served as a topping ... the powder may even be mixed into some sauces. If you did notice the mistake and sent your meal back, the server might just scrape the peanut powder off and bring the same food back to you. It's just another reason for caution.

[Alyallen]

Come to Korea but prepare to be as inconvenienced if not more so than the vegetarians I've met while here. The concept of "I don't want blah blah in this food" seems to stretch the mental capacities of some people. I remember my friend ordering a pizza and requesting no meat and then handing the phone to a Korean to reiterate this request, only to get a nice pizza with tiny bits of ham in the cheese.

So come to Korea but I would be very careful of restaurant or pre-packaged foods here...

And bring a lot of epi pens.

[njp6]

I'm allergic to peanuts, cashews and shellfish and I do okay here. It really depends on how severe your allergy is. Mine isn't life threatening, but I definitely can't teach after I've been poisoned. In my experience I've only rarely been in contact with peanuts, but one of the other posters is right, check everything that is given to you. I wouldn't let it keep you from Korea. I have a friend who is severely allergic to shellfish. He's here and he's still alive, I believe. Just stock up on whatever medications you may need before you come.

[Alyallen]

[Lynns]

You should bring Epi-pens with you, because they aren't available here. Every year, I bring 6 with me, fortunately never needed to use them since I'm extremely careful.

Peanuts are not commonly found in Korean food, but they are a hidden ingredient in a few dishes, and there are ground peanuts in some prepared foods that you buy at the store.

With a peanut allergy, it is possible to eat at some restaurants here. Some of the foreign fast food restaurants are OK--McDonald's, Krispy Kreme (NOT Dunkin Donuts), Burger King. Kraze Burger is OK. The pizza is OK.

For Korean food, the plain barbecue (no marinade) that you cook at your own table and plain rice are OK.

Costco sells a lot of American food that has ingredient labels in English.

General awareness of life threatening allergies is not very good here. There are a lot of people with shellfish allergy, but there's not as much peanut allergy here (although I have met a few), so you really need to watch out for yourself. Good luck.

[Canada2Korea]

Thanks everyone... yeah being careful is something I will certainly be doing. Luckily I have been quite successful here in avoiding peanuts, but Korea obviously offers a wide variety of new challenges. That definitely won't stop me from going (despite some people suggesting it) I just wanted to hear if anyone else had to deal with similar restrictions. Is there anyone else out there that has gone to Korea with a peanut or other serious allergy?