Hoi An

As a side trip from Singapore, Vietnam has been at the top of my list of places to go, not least because the idea of eating Pho for breakfast every day was very tempting. We had Ho Chi Minh booked for late March a few months in advance, but at the last minute decided we needed a more chilled out time and booked connecting flights to Da Nang to see the ancient city of Hoi An.

As well as eating Pho at least once per day, (not always for breakfast as we slept in too much for that most days), we discovered some of the local treats that were gluten free. The Hoi An specialty 'White Rose' dumplings - rice flour wrappers with minced pork and shrimp in the center - were something that we ended up trying at nearly every restaurant we visited (that generally amounted to more than three meals a day). Without a doubt, my favorite were at the Banana Leaf Cafe, down by the river, where they also do an amazing Tuna Steamed in Banana Leaf. This is done with tumeric, mung bean noodles and a beutiful blend of spices. The Banana Leaf Cafe is also famous for it's buckets of cocktails - definitely something to share!

After Banana Leaf, The Mango Rooms rated the highest, though it was probably the one place where we didn't go straight for the White Rose dumplings. It was difficult to get past the Green Mango salad with grilled garlic prawns, especially as a fresh change from a diet of mostly rice noodles. Mango Mango and it's sister restaurant The Mango Rooms are at the high end, but with a great atmosphere, and insane flavours, they are well worth a the few extra dollars, and it's still a steal compared with what you would pay in Singapore for a similar standard.

Not everything in Vietnam is gluten free, but rice or mung bean noodles are used in a lot of things. Soy Sauce is not always used in stir frys - do be sure to check though. We found some coeliac cards from this site http://www.celiactravel.com/gluten-free-cards/vietnamese-celiac-card.pdf which were very helpful in a tight spot. However, we only found them on the second day, much too late to print them off, so I wrote them out by hand. After much giggling, the girls in the Banana Leaf Cafe explained to me that it was too much writing, no one wants to read all of that and that all I have to say is the first bit.

'White Rose' Rice Dumplings (left) and Tuna Steamed in Banana Leaf (right)

Banana Leaf Cafe,

Hoi An Ancient Town, Vietnam

Bread

If you need a gluten free bread fix whilst in Singapore, you are far better off cost-wise baking at home than buying frozen from Cold Storage. However, if you are passing through and want something for your travels, Jason's marketplace at Tanglin mall sells frozen Country life bread which defrosts quite nicely. Expect to pay about S$13.50 a loaf. Jason's in City Hall sells frozen rice bread, but this definitely needs toasting and is a typical crumbly rice bread. Not really worth the S$11.50 you will pay.

If you have an oven at your disposal, there are a few mixes to choose from. My favorite is the gluten free easy bake mix by orgran, http://www.orgran.com/products/161/. This is so easy to make, difficult to screw up, involves no messing around with yeast and the wholemeal version has psyllium for that added fibre so often missing from gluten free bread. The Fair Price supermarket at Bedok stocks both the white and the wholegrain versions, along with a huge sample of other orgran products. The end result is you have a fresh, gluten free loaf that you can enjoy in bread form for the first few days before it goes crumbly, and toast after that. No bread maker or kneading necessary, it's as simple as a cupcake packet mix. Depending on the size of your tin, you can get a loaf out of this about 1.5 times that of the frozen lines and for approximately half the price.

Bombay Cafe

I had a baffling experience in little India a while ago, after learning the word 'ata' means 'wheat' in Hindi. Several places in a row assured me that their Naan bread has 'no ata'. Now, I know this is untrue so I went on my way appalled at how people will lie to you to make a buck. A trip to the pure veg Bombay Cafe in Suntec City with a friend from work cleared this up.

Ata is whole wheat. 'Maida' is 'plain white flour'. A lot of people don't seem to question how processed food is made here. Flour is just, well, flour. 'What grain is it made from?', 'no grain, it's just normal, plain flour.' So if they say Naan has no ata they are not lying - they are just not extrapolating. I was also reminded that 'Rava' is Semolina, a type of wheat, so stay away from that too. Bombay Cafe had some delicious new things to try as well as GF curries (we got there in the end), I was introduced to a spiced puffed rice dish called Bhel - delicious and perfect for Singapore as it is prepared and eaten cold.

Bhel, Bombay Cafe

Suntec City (downstairs from Tower 2)



Thai Express

Thai Express was one of the first restaurants I cleared as Gluten Free friendly when I arrived. I found out early on that I was able to eat the curries as they prepare the curry paste themselves and do not add any thickeners. Though more of the Newtown Thai Two than the Thai Pothong calibre, for those who are familiar with Sydney's King St, Thai express make a passable curry at a reasonable price. I have been dying to try a laksa since arrival in Singapore, but with the local laksas at the hawker centers out of bounds due to pre-mixing of the soup with Tau Pok (tofu with gluten skin), I hadn't had the chance until a Malaysian-Australian friend came over from Sydney and walked me through some local names for ingredients whilst at Thai express. This is where I learned the name for Tau Pok, also that I can eat Tau Foo which generally means firm tofu. My friend also ran me through the words for the various types of noodles, which was my other area of gluten worry as no one I've asked seemed to know what laksa noodles were made of - they were just 'laksa noodles, la'. They are, in fact, rice noodles in the shape of spaghetti (which I think was the main reason for my initial concern as I'm used to noodles in laksa being flat as they are in Sydney). Incidentally, the flat rice noodles are called Kiwi Tiao and are safe. Stay away from Mee - these look like laksa noodles/spaghetti but are egg noodles and contain wheat. Vermicelli is called either Mee Hoon or Bee Hoon and are made from rice flour.
After clearing this up, we ordered a laksa and pineapple rice to share. The pineapple rice is a local dish and whilst the version at Thai Express had no soy sauce,t I was warned always to check for this elsewhere as different places will use slightly different recipes. I am now dying to try pineapple rice in a hawker center as Thai express serve it on a plate but apparently it is traditionally served in a hollowed out half-pineapple, yum!

Pineapple Rice,

Thai Express

Raffles City B2

Murugan Idli Shop

Last week I visited Murugan Idli shop in Little inda. Murugan serves only South Indian breads with chutney. The good news is, there is no wheat, rye, barley or oat flour in any of the breads, which means there should theoretically be a 0% contamination risk! I am quite confident of this as the friend I  went with speaks Hindi so was able to check for dangerous ingredients for which the staff may not have known the English name. The Hindi word for wheat flour is gehun ka ata (or just ata). The Idli itself is a steamed rice dumpling and is quite delicious. My favorite at Murugan is the Masal Dosai, an impressive looking crunchy tube of rice and lentil flour that I was too ravenous to photograph, traditionally served with curried potatoes inside. Murugan impressed us by mixing in a generous amount of pumpkin (higher flavor, lower GI) with the potato. Yum! I would normally be a bit wary of Dosai in case the fat it is fried in has been used with something containing wheat flour. But this is not a concern at Murugan as they use ata in none of their breads. So if it has been a few years (or many) since your last deep fried food fix, why not head down to Little India and visit Murugan on the bustling Syed Alwi road? It is most popular for brunch but is great for any time of the day.

Idli with chutneys and vegetable soup, coffee on the side,

Murugan Idli Shop,

Syed Alwi Road, Little India

Cultural Guide to Eating Gluten Free in Singapore

My mission when starting this blog was to explore the cultural aspects of negotiating a gluten free meal in Singapore as well as sharing my findings on specific gluten free food I have found.

Here is an update on what I have discovered so far on the cultural side of things, this is likely to change over time:

Singapore is often called a "cultural melting pot". I know it is a metaphor, but for me it manifests quite literally - all kinds of foods get mixed that you wouldn't expect. Unlike when you are travelling in it's close neighbors Vietnam and Thailand, when visiting Singapore (and Malaysia), do not assume that anything which looks gluten free probably is.

The strong food culture, the low food prices and the career-focus (late nights at work) of most Singaporeans add another challenge. Most people eat out, order in, or have someone cook for them most days of the week, if not always. The concept of asking somebody; "What is in Me-Goreng?" is challenging enough (most people won't get past "noodles, sauce, vegetables and meat"), so try explaining to someone that the reason you are not going to eat it is because the sauce probably has a thickener that is derived from wheat. People just don't seem to ask what goes into their food with that level of granularity here. Expect to get some strange looks.

The good news is, almost everyone speaks English in Singapore and in general Singaporeans want to be helpful. If you approach the question as a plea for help, (as opposed to just expecting alterations can be made, which is built into the Western expectation of what it means to be the customer), and exercise patience, you will get there in the end. A local friend suggested I start every conversation with a new waiter with "Excuse me, I have a small problem that I was wondering could you please help me with". Just be careful of polite agreement that may not necessarily indicate understanding. You may want to learn the phrase "tripple confim".

Here are some common 'gluten traps' to watch out for, and some tips for where to start looking for your next gluten free meal.

1. Beware of any food that is from a 'pure veg' restaurant - be it Indian, Chinese, Malaysian or fusion cuisine. Chinese vegetarian cooking uses pure wheat gluten, called 'seitan' as a meat replacement. I had no idea about this and learned the hard way in Little India very early in my stay here. The tofu known as 'Tau Pork' is coated in seitan, this is the spongy tofu with skin. Many curries and laksas at hawker centers already have 'Tau Pork' mixed in with the sauce before they put in the noodles and meat, so be sure to check if this is the case before you order. If so, it's a 'no go'. Penang laksa/Malaysian style laksa and Thai laksa usually do not have Tau Pork. Laksa noodles are a form of rice noodles. If you want to be safe, confirm they are not using Mee (pronounced 'Meeh') as a replacement.

2. Chicken rice is a safe zone. Stick to the steamed chicken rather than roasted, and be sure to watch someone else's dish be prepared first so you can ask them not to put sauce on if necessary. See my post on Chicken Rice for more details.

3. Do not assume that stall owners in Hawker Centers, Food Courts and low end ($10-$15 a head) restaurants have even a basic understanding of gluten or even food allergies. In fact, if you try to explain that you will have a stomach upset, a lot of stall owners will think you are being fussy or insulting them about their hygiene standards. It usually goes a lot smoother if you know in advance what the common traps are for a particular dish by understanding the standard ingredients and asking straight forward questions around those. E.g. Does the curry have any flour, any powder, any thickener, any stock? Is there soya sauce, oyster sauce, does anything else come on the plate except what is in the ingredients? I recommend getting Mrs Lee's cookbook - as well as being useful for understanding the dishes you will come across it is also a cultural icon.

Most Chefs in higher end restaurants ($35+ a head) have been trained in chef schools to an international standard and therefore know about food allergies, you can usually approach them in the same way you would in Australia, USA or Canada - "Excuse me, please could you ask the chef if there is anything they can make gluten free? Here is a card explaining how severe my allergy to gluten is, and exactly what I can and can't eat", or something along those lines.

4. Especially when eating at Hawker Centers and Food Courts, it can be awkward to handle when your order does go wrong and you can tell you missed a step - "Oops, why didn't I ask them not to put biscuits all over my rice after we dissected the ingredients of the curry next to the rice in so much detail? How silly of me!". I have tried asking for them to make it again without. I have tried simply trying to hand the dish back and still pay. Nearly every approach just creates confusion - either their's; "Who is this crazy Ang Mo who just left an entire meal untouched on the table and then ordered another one?" or mine; "Did they really have time to make the dish again, or did they just take the biscuits away and then wait a few mins - is that a crumb I see or am I imagining things?".

My solution is - it is always best to eat with a group when trying a new place for the first time.

Firstly, your friends will look after you and make sure you don't take unnecessary risk just because you feel guilty about wasting food.

"Well.. maybe it's okay anyway, maybe it's that dark brown colour because of balsamic vinegar and not soy sauce..?"
 "No!"

If you are only with one other person it's pretty much one strike and you're out - now they have two dishes to eat and you know the next thing has to come out gluten free or everyone will just end up feeling awkward (and in my case, guilty for wasting food).

Secondly, the the more hungry people to absorb ordering mis-steps until you learn how to navigate the menu the better! My colleagues have started to enjoy the extra free food and I have a suspicion they are a bit eager to take me to new places for a reason.

Then next time you go back you know how to order 'just so' for that particular restaurant and dish.

5. Finally, and this applies anywhere in the world - unless you are in your own home town where you are a regular at the local cafe and they know both you and your autoimmune dysfunction by name - never go out to eat when you are really THAT hungry. Or if you do, always have a back up plan - fruit, musli bar, rice crackers, whatever, on hand. At least enough to get you to the point where you are capable of walking away if all the above fails.

Once you do manage to order a gluten free meal in Singapore, you will be delighted to find the food is generally fresh and delicious, so it is well worth a try at eating out. If you are worried about being stranded, research the nearest 'Cold Storage' supermarket to your hotel and you will be able to find a good range of gluten free products as back-up so you are not tempted to take risks to avoid starvation.

Jones the Grocer

Living in Sydney, if a friend asked for a catch up, the question was never 'What do you want to do?', but 'Where do you want to have brunch?' In my student days, hanging out in gluten free havens of Glebe and Newtown, I would be able to visit a different cafe every weekend day for a year (and if it wasn't for the Molly Coddle Cafe in Stanmore I probably would have), and still not run out of new gluten free possibilities. Therefore, it wasn't surprising that when a fellow Sydney girl took me to a real 'Sydney style' brunch place in Singapore, I nearly died of delight.
Take the rustic charm and scrumptious menu of an out of the way cafe in Glebe, add a real cheese fridge, a deli, a wall of the finest wine and a huge range of beutiful olive oils, spices, specialty biscuits, nogaut, cakes and other goodies, and you will be starting to understand Jones the Grocer. I wasn't surprised to find out upon later research that Jones the Grocer started in Sydney. From there it has expanded to Melbourne, Singapore and Dubai. The key differnce between the dives of Glebe and Newtown and Jones the Grocer is the price, but for those who are far from home, the luxury is worth it once in a while. Jones the Grocer in the Mandarin Gallery on Orchard is likely to be busier on a weekend than its out of the way but out of the bussle sister store at Dempsey Hill, however, if you are there with just two or three people it is still likely to be les than a five minute wait. No gluten free options are listed explicitly on the menu, but like a team of health gurus in a city where no one seems to know or care what goes into their food, the staff at Jones the Grocer were attentive to my description of what it would mean to make a gluten free meal, and we managed to throw together a version of the Country Breakfast that was safe.

Country Breakfast at Jones the Grocer

Mandarin Gallery, Orchard Road, Singapore