Seoul Korea?

[Mtndog]

Just got invited to teach over there for 2 weeks in August and am wondering how easy (or hard) it is to eat gluten-free. I will be staying in a hotel with a friend and hosted by Koreans who are fluent in English.

I am seriously considering it (it would be a definite YES! if I wasn't dealing with Lyme too) but wanted to check out the eating. I'm not a picky eater (well kim chee might NOT become a staple in my diet but you never know!)

[Debra L]

Just got invited to teach over there for 2 weeks in August and am wondering how easy (or hard) it is to eat gluten-free. I will be staying in a hotel with a friend and hosted by Koreans who are fluent in English.

I am seriously considering it (it would be a definite YES! if I wasn't dealing with Lyme too) but wanted to check out the eating. I'm not a picky eater (well kim chee might NOT become a staple in my diet but you never know!)

I live in Daegu (Seoul is the largest city, Daegu is #3). I easily eat gluten free here. I eat tons of white rice, meats, veggies and soups. If your friends speak English well, they should (and usually are very willing) be able to help you. I have Korean friends who help me with my menu choices. I eat lots of rice noodles, avoid anything with breading (dong cass), I don't eat at the street venders and I usually don't have any problems. I love sam gae toung (ginseng chicken soup stuffed with rice), galbi soup (beef bone soup with rice noodles, served with rice to dump in, Im Sil pizza is rice pizza and its expensive and delicious. You should have your friends double check for you, since each place may make these things a little different. Bee Bim Bop is rice and veggies, its dol sout when its served in a warm bowl. Many places you can cook your own meat at the table, those are among my fav. places. Also, most Gim bop is gluten free as long as the seaweed paper is gluten free. It is yummy too. When I first got here (over a year ago), I though kim chee was very nasty, but now we fight over who gets to eat it. It is definitely an aquired taste. As is the raw seafood... I can tell you more about that, but its NOT for the squimish!!

If you have any questions, you can PM me, or ask here.

Deb

[gabi7]

Hi Debra, Thank you for your information. Are the sam gae toung and galbi soup always made without soy sauce? Do you have high sensitivity to gluten? If you do and you are still able to enjoy those two dishes, it's good news for me, because I've been avoiding them due to the possibility of their containing soy sauce. Also, is there a way to tell if the seaweed paper is flavored with soy sauce or not?

Hope to hear from you on this matter!

I live in Daegu (Seoul is the largest city, Daegu is #3). I easily eat gluten free here. I eat tons of white rice, meats, veggies and soups. If your friends speak English well, they should (and usually are very willing) be able to help you. I have Korean friends who help me with my menu choices. I eat lots of rice noodles, avoid anything with breading (dong cass), I don't eat at the street venders and I usually don't have any problems. I love sam gae toung (ginseng chicken soup stuffed with rice), galbi soup (beef bone soup with rice noodles, served with rice to dump in, Im Sil pizza is rice pizza and its expensive and delicious. You should have your friends double check for you, since each place may make these things a little different. Bee Bim Bop is rice and veggies, its dol sout when its served in a warm bowl. Many places you can cook your own meat at the table, those are among my fav. places. Also, most Gim bop is gluten free as long as the seaweed paper is gluten free. It is yummy too. When I first got here (over a year ago), I though kim chee was very nasty, but now we fight over who gets to eat it. It is definitely an aquired taste. As is the raw seafood... I can tell you more about that, but its NOT for the squimish!!

If you have any questions, you can PM me, or ask here.

Deb

[SL2007]

I just read your post. You probably figured this out already but the soup galbitang is traditionally made with NO soy sauce. It is very plain, it is beef ribs boiled forever, flavored only with chopped green onions and salt. Ask for it with NO noodles just to be on the safe side. I have never had problems with this dish.

I have also never encountered seaweed that has wheat. The seaweed used for sushi is called gim in Korean. As long as I buy it plain and roast it myself I have not had problems. If you buy the pre roasted type of seaweed, that often contains MSG which contains wheat. It gives me headaches.

I hope that helps!