Shiitake Skewers at a Yakitori Restaurant: Salt or Soy, How to Eat Them Hot, and Why They Should Be Well Cooked

Alongside chicken skewers, yakitori menus usually list a few vegetable skewers, and shiitake is one of the classics. Using a photo of a shiitake skewer that Yakitori Senkichi published on Google, this guide looks at how to choose the seasoning, what to watch for when eating it hot, and why you want it properly cooked, based on material from public agencies.

What the skewer in the photo looks like

In the photo, a shiitake cap has been cut in half and held on two parallel skewers. Salt crystals are visible on the brown cap, and the cut face is cooked through to white. Using two skewers stops the pieces from spinning around while they are grilled and while you eat.

Salt, tare or soy sauce?

Some restaurants fix the seasoning for vegetable skewers and others let you choose. The skewer in the photo was grilled with salt. Salt lets you taste the mushroom's own aroma and the juices that come out as it cooks. Where tare or soy sauce is offered, pick tare for a sweet and savoury glaze, or soy sauce for an extra toasty note.

If the menu does not say, staff may ask "shio to tare, dochira ni shimasu ka?" (salt or tare?). To ask yourself, "Shiitake wa shio de onegai dekimasu ka?" (Could I have the shiitake with salt?) works well.

Eating it while it is hot

Freshly grilled shiitake holds hot juice inside the cap and around the cut face. Taking small bites from the tip of the skewer makes it less likely you will scald your mouth. With a double skewer, hold it sideways and start with the piece nearest you so nothing drops.

If you are sharing, slide the pieces off with chopsticks onto small plates. Put finished skewers in the skewer holder if the table has one, or line them up at the edge of your plate.

Why it should be well cooked

France's food safety agency ANSES and the consumer protection authority DGCCRF warn that eating shiitake raw or undercooked can cause a toxic "flagellate" dermatitis, a rash of whip-like streaks with intense itching. They attribute it to lentinan, a substance in the mushroom that is destroyed by cooking.

The same notice says symptoms appear within hours or days of eating, that the itching can last up to three weeks, and that shiitake should always be thoroughly cooked, whether fresh, dried or powdered. With a charcoal-grilled skewer, that simply means choosing one that is cooked right through to the cut face.

Not everyone reacts this way, but if you are unsure about doneness, it is fine to ask. Saying "Shiitake, yoku-yaki de onegai shimasu" (well done, please) lets the kitchen decide whether to give it longer on the grill. If you develop a strong itch or rash after eating, see a doctor rather than treating it yourself.

How shiitake origin is labelled

For shiitake sold in Japanese shops, the revision of the Consumer Affairs Agency's food labelling Q&A on 30 March 2022 made the place of origin the place where the spawn was inoculated into the log or growing block, rather than where the mushroom was picked. The Forestry Agency explains that the two places can differ. Fresh shiitake had a transition period until the end of September 2022.

That rule concerns labels on food sold in shops. If you want to know where the shiitake at a yakitori restaurant comes from, check the menu or simply ask the staff.

Checklist before you order

• Is it salt only, or can you choose tare or soy sauce?
• Are you fine waiting a little for it to be grilled?
• Take small first bites from the tip of the skewer
• Ask for it "yoku-yaki" (well done) if you are unsure
• Ask the staff if you want to know the origin

At Yakitori Senkichi in Minamikyuhoji, Osaka, you can order vegetable skewers alongside the chicken. Please ask the staff about the day's menu and seasoning when you visit.

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