Celiac Disease Support Group

in the US, people seem to prefer long grain rice
in Asia, people seem to prefer short grain rice.

the starches in long grain rice are similar to those in
"baking" potatoes (Russet, Norkota, "Idaho")
the grains of rice are "dry" when cooked,
and they do not stick together.

the starches in short grain rice are similar to those in
"boiling" potatoes ("white", "redskin")
the grains of rice are "sticky" when cooked,
and they stick together in clumps.

if you want to eat with chopsticks, it helps
short grain rice lets you pick up clumps.

although short grain rice ("sushi", Arborio)
is sometimes called "sticky" or "glutinous",
it is just rice, there is no gluten in it.


some brands of "enriched" rice are made with corn starch
the FDA does not require it on the ingredient label
because it is added to assist in processing;

if you are interested, call the manufacturer and ask them
to identify the starch carrier used in the enrichment process.

Bring San-J Soy Sauce with you if you'd like to have sushi. Explain it to the restaurant and there shouldn't be any problem.

In addition, you can make your own sushi. Get the fish at a reputable place and make your own rice. My husband does it all the time. We get sushi rice from Koda farms - since it's organic it's not fortified (fortification runs the risk of having something like a gluten slurry to 'glue' the vitamins on the grains - and it makes great sushi.

It's the fortification process where you run the risk of 'contamination.'

If you go to a restaurant, tell them what's wrong and ask to see the package the sushi rice comes in. If it's not fortified and you bring your own soy sauce, you could be okay.

Some green teas can contain barley so be wary.

Oh, and if you're cross-reactive to casein (the protein in diary) please be careful of some of the 'white' fish. My husband found out the hard way that some fish are 'whitened' with a slurry of a casein-based solution.

Something I found out, is that a lot of pre-prepared sushi that they use in restaurants could contain grain vinegar... it's so hard to tell if they use that vinegar in a restaurant, as most waiters/waitresses are not very knowledgeable about gluten, or food allergies in asian restaurants. I would be very wary if I were you. At Dillons they have the dried nori and a thing of rice for a fast meal by Amy's, just don't use the soy sauce. You put whatever you want inside, and they rice and nori (seaweed) is gluten free! Look in the organic section!

Not all San-J soy sauce is gluten free. Make sure you pick up the one labeled wheat free, otherwise you'll be getting the regular wheat based soy sauce.

Hi,
I'm not sure if you're in the us but I'm from the uk and I use a completely gluten free soy sauce. The brans is Sanchi and it says traditionally brewed Tamari Soy Sauce. Gluten Free.
Hope you can get it. I can't eat my chinese food without soy sauce!

Some asian chefs inderstand and others have no idea. you really have to know more about this than they do.

Let us know what worked.

Hi Lexi,
I have sushi all the time with no problems. Explain your situation to the sushi chef. Make sure that he cleans the knives, bamboo rollers (my chef puts saran wrap over the mats) before he makes my rolls.
I bring my own soy sauce. The rice, seaweed or soy wrappers are gluten free. I also get a few sushi pieces on the side just on rice also. Remember that fake crab has wheat gluten in it. Also stay away from the fish that is already mixed with other ingredients. Enjoy your meal!

Sushi is supposed to be made with rice vinegar. Sushi in theory should be safe. But some chefs will add soy sauce to certain types of sushi so you have to ask. I used to eat a spicy salmon sushi that used soy sauce in the spice mixture. So it's a good idea to ask.

Ordinary grain vinegar is theoretically safe as it's distilled. Some people seem to react to distilled products so that's a personal choice. But a good sushi chef would be using rice vinegar in the rice as that is traditional.

Tahini Sauce is Soy sauce made from white soy beans, it is Gluten Free, says so right on the bottle