Celiac in Southeast Asia

[Xeralf]

A friend is traveling around Thailand, Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia for a few weeks.

It happens to be celiac and I do not know much about it.

Any advise, food to avoid (apart from the obvious) in these countries?

What about beer, any gluten-free beer? Can he have shinja, lao etc?

I heard beer in Laos is different. Can he have it?

Roti? Pancakes, I guess not, but noodles, pad thai?

Thanks a million. Your help is much appreciated

Regards

Xrlf

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Celiac means your friend needs to avoid things with gluten, which are very common here and elsewhere. You have to work pretty hard and be very careful to avoid it.

 

One of the most common things with gluten is wheat flour or products, so anything with wheat is going to be off-limits.

 

Fresh meats, poultry, fish, eggs, rice and rice products, fruits and veggies are all OK. But you have to also be careful about the way things are cooked and prepared, because things like breading often will have wheat flour, and things like soy sauce also can contain wheat elements.

 

There are gluten free beers out in the world, but I'm not sure I've ever seen that variety here in Thailand. And beer in general is gonna be a problem, because it typically is made from barley, which is a gluten-containing ingredient.

 

Quote

People with coeliac disease can safely eat many common plants, seeds, grains, cereals and flour, including corn, polenta, potatoes, rice and soya. However they should avoid barley, wheat, rye, cous cous and semolina as they are some of the foods which contain gluten.

https://www.coeliac.org.uk/gluten-free-diet-and-lifestyle/gf-diet/grains/

 

It may not help with eating out, but in terms of eating in, markets like Villa and Central in Bangkok tend to stock a decent variety of gluten-free products, including things like cereals and pastas and such.  There also may be a few restaurants around Bangkok that offer gluten-free items on their menus.

 

[Sheryl]

No beer!

 

Rice dishes will mostly be fine

 

Rice noodles are OK but avoid the "Mama" type  (packaged noodles) and of course spaghetti/macaroni types

 

Also avoid soy sauce , but fish sauce is fine

 

Pad thai is made with rice noodles, so as long as they don't add soy sauc e is OK

 

 

See  http://www.celiactravel.com/stories/getting-gluten-free-street-food-in-thailand/

 

 

[Xeralf]

Thank you for the info!

 

[Oxx]

On 11/02/2017 at 8:27 PM, Sheryl said:

Pad thai is made with rice noodles, so as long as they don't add soy sauc e is OK

 

Traditionally fish sauce is used for pad thai, not soy sauce.  Unlike most stir fries (which are Chinese in origin) this one is unlikely to have soy sauce (but of course, check).

 

Another kind of noodles which is OK is "wun sen", made from mung beans, most commonly encountered as yam wun sen (a "salad" with noodles, onions, Chinese celery, prawns and/or minced pork in a sour, salty dressing made with fish sauce) and kung op wun sen (prawns and wun sen baked in a pot).  Yam wun sen should be OK, but kung op wun sen is NOT since it contains a large quantity of soy sauce.

[Xeralf]

Thank you, good to know