Gluten Free / Celiac - Shrimp Paste, Fish Sauce?

[matt111]

Are the little jars of shrimp paste gluten free?

What about the sauces they use in thai cooking?

What staple thai foods/meals are safe and which are to avoid?

I done ample searching on the subject but either the information is curated by one week travellers (after a week would be difficult to pinpoint any source) or by people in western countries minic thai cooking with US/EU ingredients.

The GF still hasnt fully groked what glutten is despite searching online, and what foods might be contaminated, as of course gluten itself would not be listed as an ingredient, so explain to a thai market seller or asking the clerk in Tesco/Tops would be useless I imagine.

Any recent/definite lists by those with gluten intolerance (or celiac) would be appreciated..

[zorro1]

Im gluten intolerant and have found Thailand very accommodating, even with fried foods like fish cake. I put it down to the cost factor of having to use wheat as a thickener and imagine that rice flour as a substitute would be a lot cheaper.

One thing you have to be very careful of is soy sauce which is used fair bit. Reading labels on cans or bottles is a hassel because they usually put a thi written sticker over the contents.

A lot depends on your "level" of intolerance as well.

[bmore99]

Please beware of soups and sauces.

The number one stock used in Thailand is Unilever's Knorr.

It contains wheat!

I've asked Unilever why they use wheat in their stock in Thailand i.s.o. rice, but so far they have not been inclined to react.

Fish sauce, shrimp paste, curry paste: I haven't seen any brand yet containing wheat (pâeng-săa-lee - แป้งสาลี)

[AyG]

If you're seriously gluten intolerant, then avoid all stir fries since both soy sauce and oyster sauce may contain wheat, and most stir fries include one or other of these sauces. (Fish sauce, as far as I know, does not contain any wheat products.)

Avoid fried rice since it may (but not always) contain oyster sauce.

Also avoid spring rolls since the wrappers will probably contain wheat. (The fresh ones are more likely to be wrapped in rice paper, but they're not really Thai food, rather a Vietnamese import.)

Avoid all noodle dishes, except those made with mung bean noodles. (So yam wun sen should be OK.)

Avoid cake-like sweetmeats. However, the small yellow balls made with egg yolk (traditionally duck egg yolk) and sugar should be OK. (Though eat a few of those and you'll probably develop diabetes they're so sweet.)

On the OK list are all curries, soups such as tom yam gung and tom kha gai.

Fried and steamed meats and fish should be OK. Fried chicken is traditionally made using rice flour (and so much nicer than KFC).

Isaan food will be OK. (Grilled pork, chicken, somtam, laap, nam tok, &c.)

Prawn and fish cakes should be OK since traditionally they're made with tapioca flour. However, I'm not sure this can be 100% guaranteed, so probably best to avoid.

[edwardandtubs]

Almost every prepared meal you buy is going to have some gluten in it due to the reliance on bottled condiments. Fried chicken mentioned above, for example, obviously doesn't just have rice flour in the batter. It also contains condiments like soy sauce and oyster sauce. The sweeping generalisation "Isaan food will be OK" is also nonsense for the same reason. If you're a serious celiac you'll have to cook at home and avoid using anything from a bottle or jar.

[bmore99]

I disagree that Tom Yam is ok. The stock used contains gluten.