US treasury secretary Janet Yellen has started a craze in China for a magic mushroom-based dish called Jian shou qing, or “see hand blue”, after she was spotted eating the fungi, known for being hallucinogenic, while on a visit to Beijing in July.

The dish is made from Lanmaoa asiatica mushrooms, parts of which turn blue when bruised or sliced.

Dr Peter Mortimer, a professor at Kunming Institute of Botany, told CNN on Tuesday: “Lanmaoa mushrooms are considered poisonous as they can be hallucinogenic.

An aide to Yellen confirmed that the Treasury secretary ate the mushroom dish at the restaurant.

The chain said on Weibo that Yellen’s visit and choice of dish had caused several branches to sell out within hours.

collectively transferred to another job and turned into mushroom cutting workers,” the restaurant said in a later post.

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