Gluten In Korean Foods?

[dk3790]

Hey so I'm trying the gluten-free diet and so far I seem to have an idea of what to avoid in the Western foods. However, when it comes to korean food I have no idea if it contains gluten or not and my mom doesn't know either. She has no idea what gluten is. To start off, I love eating galbi. We buy the fresh ones so I am assuming they are safe to eat. The sauce however I am unsure. Also different sauces seem to have slightly varying ingredients, but in the one I curtently have, the ingredients are:

 

Soy Sauce (Water, soybean, salt), sugar, pear puree, onion, garlic, sesame oil, sesame seed, sorbitol, black pepper, citric acid, salt.

 

It says it contains soybean and sesame seed, no mention of wheat.

 

I've read rice in itself is safe but my mom cooks it with beans. Brand name is Goya. Says it may contain soybean and what. Ingredients:

 

Pinto beans, small red beans, pink beans, red kidney beans, great northern beans, baby lima beans, large lima beans, blackeye peas, small white beans, black beans, whole green beans, yellow split peas, green split peas, lentils, chick peas, pearl barley.

 

Finally, hot pepper paste. I've read it is not gluten free but I looked and nothing seemed suspicious.

 

Ingredients: Red Pepper Powder, Rice, Corn Syrup, Starch Syrup, Salt, Alcohol,  Fructooligosaccharide.

 

I'm still really new to this stuff so I'm not 100% on what I can and cannot eat yet, thank you.

[psawyer]

Rules for labels vary from country to country, but in Canada and the United States, wheat must be declared on the label. The only possibly iffy thing is the "starch syrup" as the source is undisclosed. But again, in Canada and the US wheat cannot be hidden. Canada's rules are stricter, and require disclosure of all gluten sources, not just wheat.

[shadowicewolf]

Soy sauce is generally made with wheat. There are kinds without it though (tamari is one kind, san-j produces a line of it).

 

Barley is a no no, as it has gluten in it.

[BelleVie]

Hey so I'm trying the gluten-free diet and so far I seem to have an idea of what to avoid in the Western foods. However, when it comes to korean food I have no idea if it contains gluten or not and my mom doesn't know either. She has no idea what gluten is. To start off, I love eating galbi. We buy the fresh ones so I am assuming they are safe to eat. The sauce however I am unsure. Also different sauces seem to have slightly varying ingredients, but in the one I curtently have, the ingredients are:

 

Soy Sauce (Water, soybean, salt), sugar, pear puree, onion, garlic, sesame oil, sesame seed, sorbitol, black pepper, citric acid, salt.

 

It says it contains soybean and sesame seed, no mention of wheat.

 

I've read rice in itself is safe but my mom cooks it with beans. Brand name is Goya. Says it may contain soybean and what. Ingredients:

 

Pinto beans, small red beans, pink beans, red kidney beans, great northern beans, baby lima beans, large lima beans, blackeye peas, small white beans, black beans, whole green beans, yellow split peas, green split peas, lentils, chick peas, pearl barley.

 

Finally, hot pepper paste. I've read it is not gluten free but I looked and nothing seemed suspicious.

 

Ingredients: Red Pepper Powder, Rice, Corn Syrup, Starch Syrup, Salt, Alcohol,  Fructooligosaccharide.

 

I'm still really new to this stuff so I'm not 100% on what I can and cannot eat yet, thank you.

Hi there. I live in Korea, and the only food that is safe for me is bibimbap, but even that may not be safe with cross contamination issues. Red pepper paste/gojuchang is not gluten free. I don't know of any brands of it that are gluten free. A lot of Korean products that are sweetened are sweetened with barley syrup as well, so be on the lookout for that. Soy sauce is definitely NOT gluten free, but there are some gluten-free brands that are very tasty. I use the raw coconut aminos brand that you can find on iherb.com or at whole foods/trader joe's type places. Good luck! 

[psawyer]

Oops! I missed the pearl barley the first time. It is definitely a no-no.

[kenlove]

You also have to be careful with dry seaweed which is often processed with wheat based soy sauce. sometimes it takes time to get used to and you might get sick a few times in the process. good luck

 

Hey so I'm trying the gluten-free diet and so far I seem to have an idea of what to avoid in the Western foods. However, when it comes to korean food I have no idea if it contains gluten or not and my mom doesn't know either. She has no idea what gluten is. To start off, I love eating galbi. We buy the fresh ones so I am assuming they are safe to eat. The sauce however I am unsure. Also different sauces seem to have slightly varying ingredients, but in the one I curtently have, the ingredients are:

 

Soy Sauce (Water, soybean, salt), sugar, pear puree, onion, garlic, sesame oil, sesame seed, sorbitol, black pepper, citric acid, salt.

 

It says it contains soybean and sesame seed, no mention of wheat.

 

I've read rice in itself is safe but my mom cooks it with beans. Brand name is Goya. Says it may contain soybean and what. Ingredients:

 

Pinto beans, small red beans, pink beans, red kidney beans, great northern beans, baby lima beans, large lima beans, blackeye peas, small white beans, black beans, whole green beans, yellow split peas, green split peas, lentils, chick peas, pearl barley.

 

Finally, hot pepper paste. I've read it is not gluten free but I looked and nothing seemed suspicious.

 

Ingredients: Red Pepper Powder, Rice, Corn Syrup, Starch Syrup, Salt, Alcohol,  Fructooligosaccharide.

 

I'm still really new to this stuff so I'm not 100% on what I can and cannot eat yet, thank you.

[dk3790]

You also have to be careful with dry seaweed which is often processed with wheat based soy sauce. sometimes it takes time to get used to and you might get sick a few times in the process. good luck

 

Is there a way to tell? I looked at the labeling and there was no hint that i knew of showing that.

[kenlove]

I can read Japanese and not Hangul so its hard to say. The Japanese are especially strict with imports, even more than the US so those labels have to be identifed and if processed with soy sauce it has to say what was in the soy sauce.  Usually I just stay away from  anything that has anything other than plain  dried seaweed.

 

Is there a way to tell? I looked at the labeling and there was no hint that i knew of showing that.

[Mee Ae]

Hi there. I live in Korea, and the only food that is safe for me is bibimbap, but even that may not be safe with cross contamination issues. Red pepper paste/gojuchang is not gluten free. I don't know of any brands of it that are gluten free. A lot of Korean products that are sweetened are sweetened with barley syrup as well, so be on the lookout for that. Soy sauce is definitely NOT gluten free, but there are some gluten-free brands that are very tasty. I use the raw coconut aminos brand that you can find on iherb.com or at whole foods/trader joe's type places. Good luck!

Bibimbap sauce is not gluten free, it's made with gochujang and soy sauce and syrup sweetener.

[Pegleg84]

I love Korean food, and I've more or less had to give it up. When it was just gluten I had to worry about, then I managed, but I can't do soy anymore so that means absolutely no korean restaurants, and very difficult to make good approximations.

I've also never seen korean red pepper paste without gluten. I've heard its out there, but I've never seen it. It is possible to make your own, though it's time consuming.

Bibimbap, noodles, marinated meats, etc can all be made at home substituting gluten-free soy sauce and such.

Tell your mom you can definitly not eat that bean mixture though.

If you like korean food, it might be a good time to learn to cook a few recipes on your own. 

 

Now if I can just get around to trying to make chickpea miso red pepper paste...

 

Good luck!

[kenlove]

>>chickpea miso red pepper paste<< wow, sounds great, I'll buy some!

 

I love Korean food, and I've more or less had to give it up. When it was just gluten I had to worry about, then I managed, but I can't do soy anymore so that means absolutely no korean restaurants, and very difficult to make good approximations.

I've also never seen korean red pepper paste without gluten. I've heard its out there, but I've never seen it. It is possible to make your own, though it's time consuming.

Bibimbap, noodles, marinated meats, etc can all be made at home substituting gluten-free soy sauce and such.

Tell your mom you can definitly not eat that bean mixture though.

If you like korean food, it might be a good time to learn to cook a few recipes on your own. 

 

Now if I can just get around to trying to make chickpea miso red pepper paste...

 

Good luck!