How To Order All Your Favorite Asian Dishes (Without Sacrificing A Gluten-Free Diet)

Looking for gluten-free Chinese food, without having to whip out a recipe book? Instead of avoiding Chinese restaurants, check out these ordering tips below to help you ensure your Chinese food (as well as some other tough cuisines) is safe and gluten-free.  

In the United States, almost all sauces and marinades in Chinese food contain soy sauce. If it doesn’t contain soy sauce specifically, it’ll most likely contain another sauce with a soy sauce base (fish sauce, hoisin sauce, and oyster sauce, for instance). A good rule of thumb is that anything slightly brown in color has probably been touched by soy sauce. Pro tip: Tamari and Sriracha is a delicious sauce combination that's gluten-free. Feel free to bring it with you whenever you go out for Chinese food.

Depending on the restaurant, you may find some sauces that are not brown at all and don't contain any soy sauce. Cornstarch, which is gluten-free, is often used as the thickener, rather than flour. However, if the dish is deep-fried, it could also be breaded, so be sure to ask whether it is breaded or just directly fried in oil.

You could try asking the waitstaff to check the ingredients on the package of the dumpling skins, but your best bet is to ask for steamed vegetables and maybe fish, but make sure to ask for no sauce. That’s where the tamari-Sriracha combination comes in!

One exception, however, is kimchi and kimchi-based dishes. I've found that most kimchi does not contain soy sauce, but it's always safest to ask, as they often contain fish sauce, which may or may not have a gluten base. If you buy kimchi at the store, look for gluten-free on the label. Plus, kimchi is a fermented food, which means it has the added benefit of lots of healthy bacteria.

You might also want to be aware of soba noodles. Although their primary ingredient is buckwheat (which is gluten-free), many manufacturers also mix in wheat flour, so it might be worth it to check those labels. Tempura and breaded foods also contain either wheat flour or panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), so avoid those items as well if you’re following a strict gluten-free diet. 

But don't despair; other dishes that don't include a broth but still use the rice noodles or rice (e.g., vermicelli bowls, salads, rice bowls) could be safe, just be sure to ask about the sauce!

Pad Thai, for example, is a noodle dish made with rice noodles that typically uses a sweeter sauce with no soy sauce. However, some places may use soy or fish sauce, so it’s always best to ask the waiter when eating out. There are also popular soups (e.g., tom yum) and meat dishes (e.g., BBQ chicken) that don't use soy sauce, although be sure to ask whether the fish sauce is soy sauce-based. Also be aware of the restaurant’s peanut sauce, as there is often soy sauce mixed in.

It’s important to note that these tips touch on some of the popular East Asian dishes in the United States—you could find lots of other dishes (some even gluten-free!) in authentic, regional restaurants. And if all else fails, there’s always some gluten-free recipes to fall back on.