Avoiding Gluten in Taiwan

The good news is that rice is available everywhere in Taiwan. There are also noodles made out of rice that are gluten free. The bad news is that Taiwanese cooking makes extensive use of soy sauce and the soy sauce in Taiwan is not gluten free so that makes it very difficult. Also, there are no certified or guaranteed “gluten free” products in Taiwan.

Talking About Gluten in Chinese

The word gluten in Chinese is 麩質 (fū zhí). Unfortunately most people will not know what that means. So you have to explain a bit more.

There are food categories in the Chinese language that all end in 類 (lèi). For example, dairy is 奶類 (nǎi lèi). Wheat is in the category called 麥類 (mài lèi) which can be thought of as grains. The common grains in this category are: 小麥 wheat, 大麥 barley, 黑麥 rye, 

蕎麥 buckwheat and 燕麥 oats. So a more understandable thing to say is that you can’t have any soy sauce or grains:  “màilèi, jiàngyóu bùxíng.” Note that you cannot find guaranteed gluten free oats in Taiwan.

Useful Words and Phrases - Quick Reference

English	Chinese	Pīnyīn
Grains	麥類	Màilèi
Bread	麵包	Miànbāo
Flour	麵粉	Miànfěn
Soy sauce	醬油	Jiàngyóu
I'm allergic to___	我對___ 過敏	Wǒ duì___ guòmǐn
I will have an allergic reaction	我會過敏	Wǒ huì guòmǐn
I can't have ___	__不行	__bùxíng
Does it have soy sauce in it?	裡面有醬油嗎？	Lǐmiàn yǒu jiàngyóu ma?
Even a little bit is not allowed	點點也不行	Diǎn diǎn yě bùxíng
It's very serious, I will have to go to the hospital	很嚴重，我會需要去醫院!	Hěn yánzhòng, wǒ huì xūyào qù yīyuàn!
There is flour in soy sauce	醬油裡面有麵粉	Jiàngyóu lǐmiàn yǒu miànfěn
I don’t want any sauces	我不要任何醬料	Wǒ bùyào rènhé jiàng liào

Packaged Foods - Checking for Gluten

Every packaged food item in Taiwan is required by law to have the ingredients listed. Some things sold at stores or given to you by friends are not labeled for individual sale and will not have them. But normally you will have the ingredients there to guide you.

Words on Packaged Food Labels

English	Chinese	Pīnyīn
Ingredients	成分	Chéngfèn
Allergen information	過敏原資訊	Guòmǐn yuán zīxùn
This product contains	本產品含	Běn chǎnpǐn hán
Gluten-containing grains	含麩質之穀物	Hán fū zhí zhī gǔwù

Ingredients is 成分 if you see this and then a long list of ingredients then you found it.

If the ingredients list includes 麥, 麵, or 醬 then you probably can't have it.

Taiwan also requires allergen information on packages. Normally it is labeled 過敏原資訊. Find that section and see if it lists 含麩質之穀物. Google will often translate this to Gluten containing Cereals. But it just means Gluten containing grains. It gets pretty easy to find once you know where to look.

Unfortunately sometimes it's very hard to find. It might not be by the ingredients, it could be anywhere on the package. Remember to check all sides. Most products have it on the back, but a lot of 7-11 meals have it on the front. Sometimes it does not say 過敏原資訊 so you have to just look for the 本產品含 (this product contains) and then a short list. Very often, if it's not in its own allergy section, then it will be at the end of the ingredients section. Look for this symbol ※ to divide the ingredients and the allergen information. It's not always there, but it could be. Here's an example of an allergic section so you kind of know what's going on. If you learn all of these, you'll be able to find it faster.

過敏原資訊：本產品含 奶類、大豆類、含麩質之穀物、魚、蛋、

Also important: many of the Taiwanese recipes for products are different from the US ones. Be aware that there are many foods, especially chips, that you could eat in the US but not in Taiwan. Check everything before you eat it.

Finding Gluten Free Food In Taiwan

Most traditional Taiwanese food places are not going to have food you can eat because they cook both vegetables and meat with soy sauce and they use wheat in noodles and tortillas. Examples of these types of stores are: 抓餅 (zhuābǐng)，自助餐 (zìzhùcān)，便當 (biàndang).

The easiest gluten free foods to find are: tepanyaki, sushi, vietnamese, hot pot, and  simple fried rice 炒飯 (chǎofàn)

Hot pot should just be vegetables and tofu with plain meat. Be careful about some of the more weird looking tofu concoctions but for the most part you are okay.

7-11 only has one premade lunch that is edible. Only the salted pork 飯糰 is Gluten free.

Family mart and other convenience stores have less options. Usually you have to resort to a bag of plain rice and one of the packaged plain chicken breasts.

If you're at a restaurant and you are unsure what to get, seafood is usually the safest option.. Shrimp stuff, especially shrimp fried rice, is the most likely to not be fried, breaded, or basted. Also remember to never eat anything without especially asking them to remove the soy sauce and then triple checking.

There are many Vietnamese pho restaurants in Taiwan, and they generally do not cook with soy sauce and will be good places to eat.

List of Food You May Have Questions About - With Comments

English	Chinese	Pinyin	Comments
Grain	麥類	Mài lèi	It means wheat category. All plants with the character 麥 in it are called 麥類 so this a super useful umbrella term that for the most part means gluten containing grains. Mostly can’t eat, (see next few terms).
Wheat	小麥	Xiǎomài	Don’t eat it.
Barley	大麥	Dàmài	Don’t eat it.
Rye	黑麥	Hēimài	Don’t eat it.
Buckwheat	蕎麥	Qiáomài	Technically it isn't a type of wheat and is gluten free so you can eat it.
Oats	燕麥	Yànmài	Oats are gluten free but are often processed and harvested with wheat and are usually considered unsafe to eat unless certified gluten free. Taiwan unfortunately does not have any gluten free oats.
Wheat germ	麥胚	Màipēi	Wheat germ is made from wheat embryos before they fully form. At this stage of development a significant amount of gluten can still be found. So it is not gluten free.
Malt	麥芽	Màiyá	Malt is a powder made from barley that is allowed to germinate, breaking down the starch into sugar. Unfortunately, this process doesn't reliably break down all Gluten compounds so it cannot be considered gluten free. The amount of gluten is considered very low but it is not zero. In America, some malt is made from corn, but all malt in Taiwan is from barley
Wheat starch	小麥澱粉	Xiǎomài diànfěn	Wheat starch is wheat that has been crushed and super washed with water in order to separate the starch from the other chemical components. While most of the gluten has been washed away, the process is not precise at all and gluten often still remains.
Soy sauce	醬油	Jiàngyóu	All soy sauce in Taiwan has gluten in it and soy sauce is used in almost all cooking. Everything you order everywhere must be triple checked to make sure they are not adding it. Soy sauce is the basic condiment or seasoning in Taiwan so often they will complain that if they don't add soy sauce it will have no flavor. Then they will sneak a bit of soy sauce into your food. You must insist that any amount of soy sauce will make you have an allergic reaction. Also be careful, when you tell them you can't have soy sauce, they will assume you are allergic to soy. Then they will feel okay with putting wheat in other things they feed you. Explain that soy sauce has a substantial amount of wheat flour inside. 醬油裡面有麵粉！(Jiàngyóu lǐmiàn yǒu miànfěn). ALSO IMPORTANT!! Lots of times they will boil their veggies and stuff in soy sauce. Almost all 便當 (biàndang) and 自助餐 (zìzhùcān) places add soy to their food. It's not worth the risk to eat from these places. Warning: most other sauces and barbecue sauces in Taiwan are based on soy sauce. Unless you look at the ingredients of the sauce yourself, don’t trust any sauce. Most of the time it's safest to tell restaurants that you don't want any sauces. 我不要任何醬料 (wǒ bùyào rènhé jiàng liào) and to avoid brown foods and sauces.
Noodles	麵類	Miànlèi	Technically it refers to any kind of noodle but you will only find it used in association with wheat noodles. Don't believe them if they say their noodles aren't from wheat.
Hand pulled noodles	拉麵	Lāmiàn	Noodle dish made from wheat noodles
Meat noodles	肉麵	Ròumiàn	Meat noodle dish made with wheat noodles.
Pho Rice noodle	河粉	Hé fěn	Big flat rice noodle you can eat.
Rice noodle	米線	Mǐ xiàn	Round rice noodle you can eat
Rice noodle	米粉	Mǐfěn	Super skinny rice noodle you can eat
Bean sprouts	豆芽	Dòuyá	Bean sprouts sometimes look like noodles but they usually aren't very long and they do not feel like noodles. They feel more like small celery. You can eat these.
Bean noodles	豆面	Dòu miàn	Bean noodles are made from different kinds of bean flour but may have wheat flour mixed in. Best not to eat.
Flour	麵粉	Miànfěn	Technically can mean any flour but it is only used to refer to wheat flour. Don't believe them if they say otherwise.
Bread	麵包	Miànbāo	Don’t eat it.
Red yeast rice	紅麴	Hóng qū	Is a kind of yeast thing they use to color and flavor foods, especially sausages. The Chinese character looks scary because it has the 麥 radical in it, but it's actually totally fine. You can eat it.
Fried	炸	Zhà	Specifically any thing that is breaded and then deep fried. Don't eat anything deep fried.
Tofu	豆腐	Dòufu	Tofu is made from coagulated soy milk so you are okay to eat!
Stinky tofu (fried)	臭豆腐 (炸的)	Chòu dòufu (zhà de)	Don’t eat fried stinky tofu.
Stinky tofu (boiled)	臭豆腐 (煮的)	Chòu dòufu (Zhǔ de)	You can eat BOILED stinky tofu if they don’t add soy sauce.
Bean curd skin	豆皮	Dòu pí	This is just made from soymilk and is ok to eat.
Sausage	香腸	Xiāngcháng	Sausage is usually not covered in bad sauces so despite the weird colors it's normally gluten free. Doesn't hurt to ask though.
Dumplings	水餃	Shuǐjiǎo	Always made with wheat. Don’t eat it
Boba	珍珠	Zhēnzhū	Small tapioca pearl balls. These are often in sweet drinks. You can eat them.
Taro balls	芋圓	Yù yuán	Taro balls you can eat.
Cake	蛋糕	Dàngāo	Made with wheat. Don’t eat.
Cookie cracker	餅乾	Bǐngqián	Cookies and crackers are usually made with wheat. Don’t eat.
muffin	鬆餅	Sōng bǐng	Usually made with wheat. Don’t eat.
Taiwanese pancake	抓餅	Zhuā bǐng	Made with a wheat tortilla, don’t eat
Shaved ice	剉冰	Cuò bīng	Dessert you can eat
Jelly	仙草	Xiān cǎo	Dessert you can eat
Sweet tofu	豆花	Dòuhuā	Dessert you can eat
Pig blood cake	豬血糕	Zhū xiě gāo	Rice and blood, no gluten. You can eat.
Glutinous rice	糯米	Nuòmǐ	A lot of rice at the stores in Taiwan will say Glutinous rice. Do not be afraid. This does not mean it contains Gluten. In this context, glutinous means “sticky” so if the rice is a bit stickier it will have this word on it. Gluten is derived from the word glutinous because it is the chemical that helps these grains stick together and keep their shape

Summary

In conclusion, start off by telling people you are allergic to 麥類 (mài lèi)、麵包 (miànbāo)、麵粉 (miànfěn)、醬油 (jiàngyóu) and then clarify from there as needed. Avoid anything that is the color brown and triple check if everything has gluten because you really never know what they put it in!

加油 (jiāyóu)！

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This information is from my friend Elder Kleven. He has learned this from personal experience living in Taiwan as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We hope this information is a help to you!