I never got around to posting this, but I noticed that Carrefour supermarket started carrying gluten-free items in the import section two years ago! I brought my camera one day, took a picture, and was meaning to write a post about it but forgot. Today, I was sorting through some pictures on my computer and saw that picture, so decided to post it on the blog, finally!
Check out the prices!
- Arrowhead Mills Gluten-Free Brownie Mix — 60RMB ($8USD)
- Arrowhead Mills Gluten-Free All Purpose Baking Mix — 72RMB ($11USD)
- Arrowhead Mills Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake Mix – 62RMB ($9USD)
Wow! Limited and expensive!! Those were the only three gluten-free items I saw. I’m sure City Shop and Pines have a lot more gluten-free selections, but I was actually quite surprised to see that the local Carrefour supermarket had them too! I wondered if it was because foreigners had requested for gluten-free items.
Well… that picture was taken at the JinQiao Carrefour back in November 2008. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any gluten-free items when I shopped there last week. The same shelf had a bunch of baking mixes, but there weren’t any gluten-free items. For whatever reason that made them stop selling gluten-free things, I doubt it’s because there isn’t enough demand. Matter of fact, I think the demand for gluten-free items should be higher as more and more foreigners are moving to China, but also, food allergies are on the rise in the local population.
In order to imitate the texture and consistency of wheat/gluten, most gluten-free recipes call for a combination for various flours and starches. These gluten-free flours and starches include buckwheat, sorghum, millet, brown rice, white rice, glutinous rice, quinoa, bean, tapioca, potato, corn, cornmeal, and others. In addition to these flours and starches, you also need [...]
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Ingredients: 1 cup sorghum blend (35% sorghum flour, 35% potato or cornstarch, 30% tapioca starch) 2 tbsp Expandex modified tapioca starch* 1 tbsp sugar 1 tsp onion powder 1/2 tsp xanthan gum 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp garlic powder 2 tbsp butter* 2 tbsp corn syrup* 1 large egg 1 [...]
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One of the challenges of eating gluten-free in China is finding the right ingredients — where to buy them and what they are called in Chinese. I’ll get around to updating the Where to Buy page soon, but here’s a few key gluten-free ingredients in Chinese: buckwheat = 荞麦 (qiao2 mai4) sorghum = 高梁米 (gao1 [...]
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Many recipes use butter or margarine, which is unfortunate for those who are lactose intolerant, allergic to milk, or vegan. My husband is both lactose intolerant and allergic to milk so I either avoid recipes that call for butter or substitute it with vegetable or olive oil. Margarines sold in China contain traces of milk, [...]
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Xanthan gum is a key ingredient in many gluten-free recipes. I have not seen xanthan gum sold in any stores in Shanghai, but you can order them on Taobao. Taobao is like Amazon.com and eBay where you can find/buy almost anything from sellers/resellers and have items delivered to you. Xanthan gum in Chinese is called [...]
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Recently, I bought the 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes book by Carol Fenster. I’ve been trying out a few recipes and have found quite a few that I like! I had another book by Carol Fenster (Gluten-Free Quick & Easy) that I didn’t like because nearly every recipe referred to another recipe or a product that is [...]
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Ingredients: 1/2 cup sugar 3 tablespoons gluten-free flour 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel 3 tablespoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons melted butter* 2 eggs, separated 1 cup milk or nondairy substitute* 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar * Note: For melted butter, I used oil. For nondairy substitute, I used coconut milk. Directions: Preheat oven to [...]
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