Is Sushi Rice Gluten Free?

[BostonCeliac]

Thanks for bringing this up! I'm really having issues lately figuring out what is OK to eat, but sushi rice?!?! Say it ain't so... I highly doubt chicken stock is used, but now I'm nervous, I always thought rice was OK (I have only the gluten issue, no others), ughh, i thought I was being good eating sushi, and I usually just get the plain-jane kind with tuna or salmon.

elonwy -- do you know is the Chuka Wakame (seaweed salad) is OK? I actually was at a sushi restaurant last night and thought to ask and they said it was made with something that contained wheat, but not soy sauce? I've been eating this all along thinking it was just sesame oil...

Thanks!

[tarnalberry]

I have heard of *fried* rice using broth cooked rice before - to add more flavor. Definitely different, and you wouldn't use the two interchangeably - well, no self-respecting sushi chef would.

[elonwy]

I have never had a problem with the seaweed salad, but I ask everywhere I go, since that is not something that is super specific on exactly how it should be made, everyone does it differently.

Ok, the Teppanyaki rice has chicken broth. That makes sense. The sushi rice is sushi rice with rice vinegar, sounds like, so the sushi rice is most likely fine. Most Japanese food aside from Sushi has a lot of wheat in it. So I would stay away from the TeppanYaki anyway, just cause of all the sauces and stuff. Much less confusing.

Elonwy

[LL04]

My best friend since I was 10 is Japanese and born here but both her mom and grandma who live here came here straight from Japan in the 60's. Their house is a second home to me and being the kind of person who would eat and loved to eat ALL kinds of foods, I ate there more often than I probably ate at my own house. Her mom taught me over the years how to cook many Japanese dishes and her grandma is the sushi MASTER!!!

Traditionally sushi rice is made with short grain glutenous white rice (Kokuho Rose rice is a premium variety developed in California and used widely in North America for sushi), steamed with water in a bamboo steamer and then seasoned with unseasoned rice wine vinegar and left to cool in the morning of the day it is to be eaten. None of these items TRADITIONALLY contain gluten HOWEVER, like everything else these days, manufacturers have taken to processing foods for whatever reason and restaurants also like to change things up and add their own ingredients to make their dishes "different". Often that processing and those changes mean adding ingredients that contain gluten.

You may compare every different Japanese restaurant in a city and you are going to find that every single restaurant differs in the ingredients it uses to make it's dishes and the way it prepares them. SOOOOO....to ask a blanket question like "Is Sushi Rice Gluten Free?" you would be expecting a blanket answer, which of course is impossible. It would be like asking "Are french fries gluten free?". The answer is the same in both cases...you have to know what ingredients and their brands are being put into the meal to know if they are gluten free...or trust that your chef knows this and is able to inform you. It doesn't matter what kind of restaurant you go to, it is the same drill. Research what it is you are going to potentially eat, find out what ingredients are in those dishes that might contain gluten and then call the restaurant ahead of time during a slow period and ask to speak to the chef or the person that would be the most knowledgeble to see if they use gluten free ingredients or not. It is always best when YOU know what ingredients and brands contain gluten and which don't because then if you can always be sure that you are getting the best information possible if you are not confident in the restaurant's ablity to be able to correctly identify them for you. Is this a lot of work? Yes of course, but a few days homework done ahead time will save you potentially weeks of sickness and discomfort afterwards.

[missy'smom]

Someone at a support group meeting swore they put soy sauce on the seaweed they use to make sushi, and though I've asked, this has never been the case. ( and as someone who makes sushi at home, this wouldn't work very well, so never made sense to me anyway).

Kanpai!

Elonwy

[NorthernElf]

Wow, sushi not gluten-free !

My recipe books make sushi rice with rice vinegar, mirin, sugar, and salt...no broth. I would expect *most* sushi places do not use broth at all. I find it's the soy sauce that can get me or the "fake" crab stuff - that imitation crab contains wheat.

I make a lot of sushi at home - shrimp, salmon, even egg with avocado, green onion, mushrooms cooked, whatever. If you can make a roll, you can make sushi. I make about 5 cups of rice and I'm good for a few days ! I store it in the fridge in an air tight container layered with dampened paper towel. I roll with nori (seaweed) or make the rectangular maki shapes with a plastic form. It really is quite easy.

[marciab]

All this sushi talk has me wanting it ... Can you tell me how to make it ? Where do you get your fish so that you know it is ok to eat raw ? Can you use frozen wild salmon ? Tuna from a can ?

Where do you buy the seaweed ? I have seen seaweed at my health food store, but it is dry ... hmmm, is that what it is supposed to look like ?

Does sushi taste ok without soy sauce ? What can be used instead that is SF, CF, DF, EF, gluten-free ?

Thanks .. marcia

[tarnalberry]

I think sushi is fine without soy sauce. I make my california rolls with real crab (and avocado and cucumber). You make the rice (sushi rice, of course - it's short grain variety; rinsing first is a good idea), and while that's cooking, make the rice vinegar, rice wine, salt, sugar combination. (I'd look up a recipe and then alter it to your tastes... I've tend to use less salt than I find in recipes and a closer to 1:1 vinegar:wine ratio. That's the great part about making it at home - you make it to your tastes.) In fact, you might take some time to read about how various people prefer to make their sushi... it's half science, half art.

As for the fish - ask around. Talk to people you know, talk to fish mongers in the area. Find out what's fresh (what came in *that day*, when you go to make the sushi) and don't be afraid to mention you're making sushi. Find out the background of the fish - grill the fish monger, not the fish! (couldn't resist! ) I wouldn't use frozen salmon myself, but you probably could use canned tuna for those rolls where they mix up the tuna with other things...

[Anonymousgurl]

haha thank you so much to EVERYONE who replied to this question! You all are awesome food detectives. LoL. I found out so much just through asking a question about sushi rice. But anyways, I have a second question that maybe one of you could answer...the internet seems to be giving me conflicting info on this, but since you guys seem to be good at looking things up I thought I'd ask....how many calories do you think a vegetarian roll has? A whole roll where I get it isn't small, and it's 6 pieces. The vegetables vary sometimes but usually it's a japanese pickle, cucumber, a mushroom....and of course NOTHING fried.

[missy'smom]

All this sushi talk has me wanting it ... Can you tell me how to make it ? Where do you get your fish so that you know it is ok to eat raw ? Can you use frozen wild salmon ? Tuna from a can ?

Where do you buy the seaweed ? I have seen seaweed at my health food store, but it is dry ... hmmm, is that what it is supposed to look like ?

Does sushi taste ok without soy sauce ? What can be used instead that is SF, CF, DF, EF, gluten-free ?

Thanks .. marcia

The recipie for sushi rice is as follows: 5 tablespoons rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon salt Combine them in a saucepan and heat just briefly until sugar and salt are dissolved. This is enough for 2 1/2 cups raw glutinous rice or 7 cups cooked. Scoop the rice out into a large shallow pan and sprinkle and cut/fold the seasoning liquid into the rice. Work quickly and fan the rice to cool it as you are working. This helps keep it from getting too sticky, lessens the sourness of the vinegar and adds a glisten to the rice. This rice and seasoning are the same for all forms of sushi- Rolls(maki) sashimi, chirashi and inari(tofu pouches).

Japanese people often make rolls with tuna and mayo, like a tuna sandwich. They call it shichiken maki(sea chicken, like the adds )

The Nori(seawwed is sold in most grocery stores these days. The sushi nori usually comes in large sheets, almost standard paper size. The seasoned nori(the one to stay away from is usually sold in small plastic jars or small packages)

[bl0nde]

sushi rice is typically made with rice wine vinegar which contains barley and is NOT gluten free. this is a very common mistake people make - we assume rice wine vinegar is just made from rice, therefore gluten free. i have severe reactions from rice wine vinegar. be cautious!

[Ennis-TX]

14 minutes ago, bl0nde said:

sushi rice is typically made with rice wine vinegar which contains barley and is NOT gluten free. this is a very common mistake people make - we assume rice wine vinegar is just made from rice, therefore gluten free. i have severe reactions from rice wine vinegar. be cautious!

..I used to use a gluten-free Rice Vinegar, gluten-free Mirin, and Salt. You can source gluten-free versions, you need to ask how restaurant prepare them and what brands are used. I know the sushi from several places here locally are safe for celiacs and gluten-free, I myself have one place I like to go to here. Though the roll they make for me is special in the fact it has no rice at all. Mirin is the sweet rice wine I assume your talking about, it is also substituted with just sugar sometimes and more vinegar or water at times.

[Posterboy]

bl0nde,

I don't have a lot to add but this thread talks about how to substitute any ingredient in sushi to make it gluten free.

https://www.celiac.com/articles/23449/1/How-to-Safely-Order-Gluten-Free-Sushi/Page1.html

Maybe it will be helpful to anyone trying to figure  how to do that.

I like steamed rice just fine but find sushi rice to "squishy" for me but I do like the way my sister makes it (having traveled to and lived in Korea for a while) she has mastered how to make nice gluten free sushi for me every time I visit and since she goes to such trouble to make it for I can't say no.

But if you are ever dining out in a restaurant the above thread has some nice tips to keep in mind.

I think many are already mentioned in this post but the above thread just puts them in one place as a nice summary.

I hope this is helpful.

posterboy,

[bl0nde]

the vinegar used in most sushi rice contains gluten. "rice wine vinegar" is a misnomer as it often contains malted  barley - it's not just rice or even "glutinous" rice. even on this forum many are confused about this ingredient, it DOES usually contain gluten  

 

i eat mostly raw and rarely eat out so it's very easy for me to pinpoint my reactions! 

[Ennis-TX]

6 minutes ago, bl0nde said:

the vinegar used in most sushi rice contains gluten. "rice wine vinegar" is a misnomer as it often contains malted  barley - it's not just rice or even "glutinous" rice. even on this forum many are confused about this ingredient, it DOES usually contain gluten  

 

i eat mostly raw and rarely eat out so it's very easy for me to pinpoint my reactions! 

I use Nakano .....they are Gluten Free.....now some Chinese brands use barley in theirs. Most Japanese ones use just rice. Stuff can be made safe if you choose the right brands.....now if your reacting to any kind of rice vinegar then it could be a think with the sulfates or nitrates in it which some people have a reaction to. Some celiacs react to all grains in very rare occasions. Or you could have another issue on top of celiac. I use the the nakano ones in stir fries, sautes, and over salads. I personally do not really eat grains anymore period.  But I do cook for others and use it in the sushi rice I make for others.

If you had a reaction please tell us the brand you used to warn others of the one that is not gluten free. This way we help others know which brands are really gluten free and which are not.

[Hellodee2]

On 1/5/2007 at 3:04 PM, elonwy said:

I have never had a problem with the seaweed salad, but I ask everywhere I go, since that is not something that is super specific on exactly how it should be made, everyone does it differently.

 

Ok, the Teppanyaki rice has chicken broth. That makes sense. The sushi rice is sushi rice with rice vinegar, sounds like, so the sushi rice is most likely fine. Most Japanese food aside from Sushi has a lot of wheat in it. So I would stay away from the TeppanYaki anyway, just cause of all the sauces and stuff. Much less confusing.

Elonwy

Check the vinegar. Some rice wine vinegar has wheat in it or barley????

[psawyer]

This thread is ten years old. Information in the early posts is not likely to be useful.

 

Labelling rules in place today say that "vinegar" has specific meanings, and--in Canada and the USA--the only vinegar that can contain gluten is "malt vinegar," which will be so labeled. The unqualified ingredient "Vinegar" is vinegar derived from apples--gluten-free.  It is almost always distilled as well, and may say "distilled vinegar."

In ingredient lists, the entire phrase between consecutive commas is the name. A word contained in the name has no meaning in and of itself. "Rice Wine Vinegar" is not the same as "Wine Vinegar," although both are gluten-free. The former is made from rice and the latter from grapes.