Korean BBQ

[TlpJrb]

My husband has been waiting patiently to try Korean BBQ at a restaurant.  What should I avoid with the BBQ, I know there are a lot of sides that come with the meat entrée.  Not very well versed in Korean cuisine, so not sure what is safe and not.

[Ennis-TX]

almost all of it would not be safe, they use heavy soy sauce made with wheat, go with plain steamed veggies if anything but do talk to your server/manager it being safe. I assume celiac here, BEST suggestion is make it at home, skyvalley makes some gluten free korean BBQ sauce, Marinade some pork or beef in it for 24 hours, if you doing the thin cut style, remove from marinade and freeze for 1 hour so you can cut the meat into thin slices korean style, then place back in marinade and pan grill, stir fry them 1-2mins each side in a bit of oil over medium or medium high heat. I use my own marinade soy free for stir fry, using 1/4cup coconut secret aminons and 1/4 cup of their teriyaki sauce with 2 tsp siracha and a clove of garlic ran through a garlic press. But that is differnt from korean BBQ  Open Original Shared Link

[okamifire]

Traditional Korean BBQ / Bulgogi marinade is heavily Soy Sauce based with additions like sesame oil, garlic, and some spices.  Even different flavors and varieties of marinades all probably have soy sauce.  Unfortunately, that will likely make it almost impossible to go to any traditional Korean BBQ place that doesn't specifically offer a Gluten Free option.  That said, you can make the very same thing at home with Tamari or a gluten-free Soy Sauce and have it taste delicious.  (Just a little bit more work since you're making the food yourself.)

I imagine it's possible to find a Korean place that caters to people with Celiac, but that would be a rare exception as far as I know.  It's possible that you could get something like bibimbap with grilled meat that hasn't been marinated, but you still have to be careful with things like gochujang and other sauce like toppings, which are very commonly thickened with wheat flour. 

It's a bummer that because Asian populations genetically aren't as prone to getting Celiac many Asian cuisine ends up traditionally containing gluten ingredients.  Not hard to make at home gluten free (and just as tasty, in fact I like Tamari more than normal Soy Sauce anyway), but much harder to eat out.  Korean, Sichuan, and Japanese especially.  Vietnamese, Indian, and Thai you'll have better luck with probably.

[Nikki2777]

Not sure where you're located but we recently found a fantastic place in NYC called Bann (found it through Find Me Gluten Free or here on the site).  Upscale, so we went for a special occasion, but they know their protocols and are able to make several traditional things gluten-free.  I think I had the Bulgogi, and to keep the grill gluten free, mine was the only one allowed on it and everyone else had theirs cooked in the kitchen.  But if we had we had everyone order gluten-free, we all could have shared.  I had really missed having Korean BBQ, so I was thrilled to find it.  Now if I can only find (or learn to make) Bon Chon Chicken!

[Ennis-TX]

Found these in my local store, many Korean recipes use these for a base so a gluten free options here is sort of a savior for Korean cooking.
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