Generally, Filipino food is very friendly to people who need to strictly follow a gluten-free diet. Here are some common Pinoy dishes that do not contain gluten as it is, cooked with the usual recipe. These will be handy the next time you are craving for something really Filipino:
Adobo
Be it chicken, pork, or CPA (chicken and pork adobo), adobo is normally a gluten free dish. Some questions were raised if soy sauce, one of the primary ingredients used in this dish is gluten-free. And the good news is, it is![1] In fact, if the soy sauce is made purely of its base ingredient which is soy beans that is naturally gluten-free. But to sure, always purchase the brand that you know and trust. As it may happen that soy sauce manufacturers process them in the same area as wheat, and cross contamination is still a possibility.
Sinigang
One of the healthiest Pinoy dishes around and thankfully, also devoid of gluten. Do away with potential gluten source which are sinigang mixes which usually contain wheat. Flavor it with natural sampalok or guava, and eat worry-free. Also, since vegetables have no gluten, you can definitely be sure that no adverse effect will happen if you have gluten intolerance. Other might worry that since there are certain starches included in the list of ingredients such gabi, gluten might still be there. Apparently, even though most of the sources of gluten are starches, not all starches have it. And the good thing is, gabi didn’t make the cut.
For more information about gluten sources, click here.
Pancit Bihon
We also discussed before about bihon, one of the party foods that we all love to serve, as a gluten-free staple for us Filipinos. And this ingredient itself is safe for consumption. Nonetheless, there are certain ingredients that we put in pancit bihon that should be used with caution or better yet, eliminated. Common ingredient such kikiam, should be, as much as possible, replaced with something whole such as meat chunks. Certain processed foods as such use wheat flour as binder. This also goes with other common street foods in a stick such as fishballs and squidballs.
We will include more information about anything gluten in the typical Filipino diet on the next articles, so always keep posted!
Got questions? Please don’t hesitate to comment below.
Gluten-Free Philippines 