Gf At A Chinese Food Restaurant?

[Mjohnson73]

Hey All,

Well I just found out that friends are coming up this coming weekend and we are apparently going to a chinese restaurant...what the heck do I eat???

HELP!!!!!!

--Maya

[mouse]

If you have a PF Changs near you, they have a gluten-free menu. The food is great.

Armetta

[KaitiUSA]

Yes, PF Changs is a good place to go.

However, do not assume all chinese food rice is gluten free. The plain rice with nothing may be ok but it depends where they cook it. The fried rice they will use soy sauce that alot of times we can't have.

[Mjohnson73]

Yes, PF Changs is a good place to go.

However, do not assume all chinese food rice is gluten free. The plain rice with nothing may be ok but it depends where they cook it. The fried rice they will use soy sauce that alot of times we can't have.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ahhh ok...

well unfortunately it is not PF Changs, it is just a local chinese place.... so I guess I might be eating beforehand or afterwards and just not eating there,... sigh..

this is frustrating....

thanks for the info

--Maya

[egoslayer1]

It can get very frustrating. most fried rice has some soy sauce with wheat in it, you can get white rice and bring your own soy sauce, or ask what brand of soy sauce they use on the off chance that they use a wheat free brand ("not likely but might as well ask).

The part that is really frustrating about eating out, isn't that there is gluten in almost everything (it seems) but that the people who work there can't even give you accurate answers about it. You can't trust what the staff tells you, even in very expensive places, unless they seem to really know about gluten.

If you really can't resist eating there, stick with foods with clear sauces if possible, obviously no fried foods or anything with noodles. You can often find some sort of fish or chicken or something with a clear sauce or a lemon sauce. Of course without reading all the containers for all thier ingrediants you still won't know for sure, but it helps the odds.

ES

ahhh ok...

well unfortunately it is not PF Changs, it is just a local chinese place.... so I guess I might be eating beforehand or afterwards and just not eating there,... sigh..

this is frustrating....

thanks for the info

--Maya

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[elonwy]

Chinese food is a difficult one. Thai is much easier, as they tend to put less soy sauce on stuff.

Pick up Stix has a gluten-free menu and some of their stores have gluten-free soy sauce ( not all though - the one I went to was out). My safe bet was steamed veggies with white or brown rice. Most Chinese sauces are not safe. Pick up Stix also cleans thier woks every time they make a dish.

I find that I eat much healthier when I eat out, no sauces - no fried stuff, everything grilled or steamed. Sofar everytime I've stuck to that ( and had my ten minute conversation with the waiter) I have not gotten glutened.

Do you have a dining card yet? Also, If you don't want to have the long-drawn out menu discussion in front of your friends, you can call ahead to the restaurant. I try to pick a couple things I think might work from the menu, then ask specifically, otherwise they can get a little overwhelmed.

Welcome to high- maitenance dining out.

HTH

Elonwy

[jenvan]

I would assume all chinese dishes have gluten in them, unless you can verify the ingredients etc. Even oyster or fish sauce can have gluten in them. I recently went to a chinese restaurant and discussed my options with them. They said I could have none of their dishes, as pretty much all have soy in them. We did come up with one solution though...they cleaned off a separate wok for me (that's important), and then steamed some veggies in it, over steamed rice. I added salt and pepper on my own. Another option is to do the above and then bring your own gluten-free soy sauce or other sauce with you to use. There is also Bragg's another soy-type gluten-free sauce. "When in doubt--go without"...don't play the odds, b/c over time that can hurt you... I agree with Elonwy too, Thai can be easier than Chinese. Good luck!

[Jnkmnky]

Everyone seems to think Chinese food is going to be gluten free, I guess because of the rice??? It also sounds like a lot of people get glutened at PF Changs. I wouldn't eat chinese food out. You can bring your own food and eat that. We're always going out to eat. I pack my son's dinner and tell the waitress he has an auto-immune disease but we enjoy his company anyway. Restaurant owners would be fools to give folks with eating restrictions a difficult time. It's a fact of life that you have celiac disease. You can socialize with your friends even if you can't order from the same menu. Go out, enjoy your time and spread the word. Take the opportunity to inform the restaurant that OutBack Steakhouse and PF Chang's have a gluten free menu for folks with celiac disease. Promote awareness!