Korean Job Discussion Forums

[edfisher]

Hello everyone,

Im planning to teach in Seoul and am a coeliac and was wondering if there are any other coeliacs in Seoul/Korea or if anyone knows of anyone who is? Is it easy to find gluten free food? Can anyone reccommend any gluten free food / places to get gluten free food? Any help would be much appreciated! Cheers!

Zoe

[browneyedgirl]

[chronicpride]

[movybuf]

My wife is allergic to gluten, and she is Korean by the way. I will agree that most Koreans have never heard of being allergic to gluten. However, I suspect many of them are, but still eat wheat. After my wife found out about it, and she began talking to other Koreans they also said they felt uncomfortable after eating wheat.

There are many options we have found here. Typically, if you eat rice-based Korean dishes, there is not added gluten. So, if you go out to eat, things should be OK. Of course, there are many fried things in Korea, so you have to avoid most street food.

There are sweet-potato based noodles here that my wife has no problems with. They are available at every grocery store.

Also, there are some gluten-free cereals available at Homever (probably Home Plus and Lotte Mart too) which taste pretty good.

There is also a Korean pizza restaurant chain that makes their pizza with 100% rice flour. It's actually really good. The name is 임실치즈피자(Im Sil Cheese Pizza). My wife has no problems eating that.

If all else fails, you can have things shipped to Korea from a few different websites. I know Amazon.com ships here and they have a big selection.

[edfisher]

Thank you so much! Its nice to know there are helpful people out there! Any other help is still appreciated!

[yingwenlaoshi]

My friend has it. Haven't seen him in years. When he was cooking something delicious, like a steak, we used to joke and say, "I'm gonna throw some flour on that!"

[edfisher]

Movybuf - Hello again, do you know the name of the gluten free cereal you talked about earlier in this post?

Thank you!

[Hyunwoo=jeff]

Hi, I would also like to know the name of the gluten-free cereal, and maybe a couple of dishes your wife eats when she goes out to eat.

[krats1976]

What about soy sauce? In the States, some soy sauces have wheat and some do not (usually store brands). Is there such a thing as gluten-free soy sauce, or does anyone know if Korean soy sauces are made with wheat?

[Son Deureo!]

I'm a celiac and I've been living in Korea on and off since 2001. It's certainly possible to eat out here, in fact I've gone months at a time without cooking.

Aside from the obvious noodles and battered dishes (eg. fried chicken, sometimes it's dusted with flour), some foods you should be sure to avoid in Korea are:

odeng (fish cakes)
ham
sausage
yeot (barley malt taffy)
most of the chips (flour is either used in the seasoning or they're formed from wheat starch, be sure to read the ingredients)
Crunky candy bars
Korean style curry

Korean soy sauce, dwenjang (fermented miso paste), and gochujang (hot pepper paste) often have a very small amount of wheat flour as well. If you are very sensitive to gluten, eat these rarely if at all. I do eat these foods, and have had few problems, but you may be more sensitive than I am.

Rice served in Korean restaurants is generally fine, but sometimes they will add barley for flavor. It's easy to see when they do, but it helps to know to look for it.

When buying flours and starches be sure to read the ingredients listings. Many common Korean brands of corn starch, potato starch, buckwheat flour etc. contain 5% or more wheat flour.

That's the bad news.

The good news is that there are plenty of great Korean foods you can eat. This thread (http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=44288&highlight=celiac) has a list of common Korean foods that are gluten free, and it's by no means exhaustive.

There is a chain of Korean bakeries called Rice Zone (www.ricezone.net) that sells 100% rice flour baked goods. They have branches in Busan and Seoul (near Bangbae Station).

I'll second movybuf's recommendation of Imshil Pizza, it's a national chain and their number for delivery is 1688-1010.

The only mainstream brand of gluten-free cereal that's available in Korea is Kellogg's Hyunmi (brown rice) Flakes. In the health food sections of the big box marts (E-Mart, Home Plus, etc) there are some specialty brands of gluten-free cereals like Ice Flakes and Gorilla Munch, but they are pricey.

Hope this helps.

[Son Deureo!]

[suprd3vil]

I've spoken with my bf and we both think he maybe coeliac. Has anyone been tested in Korea for this and what did you have to ask for?

Thanks!

[Dazed and Confused]

My niece has the gluten allergy and she did well in Korea. We were able to find the gf cereals and mother's fingers cookies are gf. When we ate out we stuck to samgyetang and bbq places. If we were in a regular korean place we'd ask for fried rice or stir fries with nothing added. It was quite bland but as she was 9 years old she didn't complain.
Keep in mind there is no Dwenjang paste available in the supermarket that is gf. Your best bet is to buy it from the market and ask what was involved in the fermentation process or find someone who makes it. The same goes for Gochujang and well.