ChinaReadyCheck

Before You Go · Coeliac / gluten-free

A gluten-free (coeliac) restaurant card in Chinese

In China the wheat is rarely just in the noodles. Ordinary soy sauce, oyster sauce, chilli bean paste, sweet bean sauce, cooking wine and black vinegar are all made with it. This card names each one in Chinese, asks for salt instead of soy sauce and a clean wok, and lets you add any other allergies.

Loading the card builder…

At the restaurant

How to use the card

  1. Show it before you order. Hand the card over first and ask staff to pass it to the chef. A spoken request is easy to lose in a busy kitchen.
  2. Point at a dish and ask if it can be made. Ask about one dish at a time. If the answer is a shrug, choose something simpler.
  3. Prefer plain cooking when unsure. Plain steamed rice, steamed (清蒸) or blanched (白灼) dishes and simple stir-fries with salt carry fewer hidden sauces.
  4. Check when the food arrives. Ask whether this is the dish made for your card. Sauces are often added at the last moment.
  5. Carry your own medication. The card is a way to explain, not a guarantee. Follow your doctor's plan for reactions.

Checked ingredients

The wheat hiding in Chinese sauces

Each of these is on the card in Chinese. Labels differ by brand, which is why the card asks the kitchen to check what it actually uses.

  • Ordinary brewed Chinese soy sauce is made with wheat: Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce lists wheat flour and declares wheat and gluten. Restaurant soy sauce is usually an ordinary brewed soy sauce, not a gluten-free tamari. Source
  • Oyster sauce contains oyster extract and, in Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce, wheat flour (allergen declared: wheat). Source
  • Pixian-style chilli bean paste (doubanjiang) is made from chilli, broad beans, salt and wheat flour on the label checked. Source
  • Sweet bean sauce (tianmianjiang), served with Peking duck and in some noodle sauces, is made mainly from fermented wheat flour. Source
  • Lee Kum Kee Hoisin Sauce contains a fermented soybean paste made with wheat flour, plus sesame paste; it declares soybeans, wheat and sulphites. Source
  • Shaoxing wine, the usual Chinese cooking wine, is fermented from glutinous rice, water and a wheat-based yeast. Source
  • Chinkiang (Zhenjiang) black vinegar is made from glutinous rice and wheat bran on the Hengshun label checked. Source

FAQ

Is Chinese soy sauce gluten-free?

Ordinary brewed soy sauce is not: it is made with wheat, and restaurants use it in most stir-fries, braises and dips. Gluten-free tamari exists but is rarely stocked; some coeliac travellers carry their own and ask the kitchen to use it. The card asks for salt instead.

Which Chinese sauces contain wheat?

On the labels and references checked: soy sauce, oyster sauce, chilli bean paste (doubanjiang), sweet bean sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing cooking wine and Zhenjiang black vinegar. The card names each one in Chinese.

Does the card say “coeliac” in Chinese?

Yes: 乳糜泻, the medical term, followed by a plain explanation that you cannot tolerate gluten at all, because many restaurant staff will not know the term.

Is rice always safe?

Plain steamed rice is the simplest base. Fried rice usually contains soy sauce, and rice noodles are often cooked in shared water or tossed with sauce, so ask.

Can I add other allergies?

Yes. Choose any combination of allergies and diets; the card merges everything into one list of ingredients to leave out.

Is anything I choose sent to your server?

No. The card and the saved image are made in your browser. If you unlock the card, Stripe handles the payment and we only check that it was paid; there is no account.

Sources · checked 2026-10-17

This card helps you explain your needs; it does not make any dish safe. Kitchens, sauces and brands vary, and staff may misunderstand. Keep your own medication with you and follow your doctor's advice. See the disclaimer.