Hi there

One of my most favourite foods before being diagnosed as a Coeliac was Chinese food. yum! Sadly now I can never eat Chinese, Can you recommend a good chinese recipe.  I feel that I miss out so much now and most restaurant will not cater for CD's.  You would make me the happiest person ever...... Kind regards Sara

sara.  I use 'Tamari classic' instead of Soy sauce which is usually 50% wheat or barley. 

you can follow most chinese recipees just substituting GF Soy sauce ...  so you needn't miss out. 

(however it has to be said I miss going to the resto )

vietnamese noodles can be bought made from rice and some from mung beans too. 

Theoretically japanese noodles are available in buckwheat but I have never tried! 

Hi Steve

Many thanks for your tips, I will certainly give it a try.

Another quick cooking tip for Chinese is that obviously many use MSG as a flavour enhancer and indeed the original taste of MSG is described as unagi....  its a Japanese word for the 6th taste... sweet/bitter/sour...  etc.  and was first found in seaweed.

Failing seaweed.... I find celeri salt adds depth to Chinese food that may seem to be missing if you are used to the MSG enhanced. 

Buckwheat makes a great batter for deep frying... so sweet and sour etc.(twice cooked) work well with just a buckwheat batter ...

cornflour (corn starch) is a great GF thickener for sauces.and healtheir than a reduction or using sugars...  however ... I like making my own sweet chilli sauce etc. with just rice vinegar, chilli and sugar just warmed gently in a pan...  (sugar to taste but be careful its potent on the eyes and sinus)

One of my best investments in general is a good mortar and pestle...  if you grind the spices yourself you know they haven't been diluted with flours...  and it really takes very little time and gives a far fresher taste. 

All coeliacs IMHO benefit from a big freezer...  because of the limitations of buying pre-prepared food I prefer making double and freezing portions.  With Chinese be sure to defrost the rice first else it breaks into tiny gooy bits....

chicken and sweetcorn soup is another great Chinese recipee for GF... I always make my own stocks but sometimes suppliment with Kallo ones (they also do dairy/yeast free for many coeliacs also need this as Dr' Jones pointed out) 

Im interested to see the experts recipees but if there is anything special you need a recipe for that they don't cover just ask. 

Not strictly Chinese but Thai and malay cookery is great too  ...  and easy to adapt to GF...  be careful of fish paste but otherwise must stuff is basic ... and naturally GF. 

Hi Sara

If you like Chinese food then really don’t despair, you can now easily purchase gluten-free soya sauce and most Chinese recipes use corn starch  (corn flour) as there thickening agent.

Steve has some wonderful tips and I certainly agree with him that the majority of Chinese, Thai and Asian dishes do not use wheat based products. I love the flavour of sesame seeds and often dry fry and add to Chinese dishes, also you can cook with a little sesame oil or drizzle a little over the finished dish and this will enhance the flavour.

Rice Noodles are now readily available, beware not to over cook, and if you are going to add into a dish, drain and cool before adding into the wok to toss around with the other ingredients.

I personally prefer Thai cookery as I love chillies but one of my favourite Chinese recipes is:

Sesame Seed Prawn Toasts

Serves 4 as a starter

100g (3 ½ oz) cooked prawns

15g ( ½ oz) butter style spread

1 small spring onion, finely chopped

¼  x 5ml ( ¼  tsp) grated root ginger (optional)

10ml (1 desspn) DS White Mix

10ml (1 desspn) water

10ml (1 desspn) dry sherry

1 small egg white, lightly beaten

50 – 75g (2 – 3 oz) white sesame seeds

6-8 slices DS GF white sliced bread

Vegetable oil for shallow frying

Method

1. In a bowl chop together the prawns with the spread to form a paste, add all the other ingredients, except the sesame seeds and the bread.
2. Spread the sesame seeds evenly on a plate or tray, spread the prawn paste on

            one side of each slice of bread, then press down on to the seeds.

3. Heat the oil in a frying pan until medium-hot, fry 2-3 slices of the sesame bread at a time, spread side down for 2 minutes, then flip over and cook the other side for 1 minute. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.  Cut each slice into 3 fingers (without crusts).

Good luck with the cooking – it’s time for you to experiment which is where the fun in cooking comes in.

Regards

Gill

ooh that sounds like a great starter ... I think I will be having that tonight  

6-8 slices DS GF white sliced bread

Its funny but with GF recipees the actual make and type of bread is so important....  what works with one brand can fail miserably with another. ( Not that i don't think DS deserve a bit of recognition for putting this together...  but it really is important to use the right type) 

edits:

suggestions.....it would be great to leave this recipe thread open a bit longer....