Week 2: Avoidance, Weightloss and Language Barriers

So I am now coming to the close of my third week going gluten free in Hong Kong. I wanted to take the time this week to outline a few themes that have made themselves more clear for me this week as I am now starting to become much more familiarized with the gluten free lifestyles in Hong Kong.

I would like to take the time to talk about the the three themes I have become most aware of this week: avoidance, weight loss, and language barriers. After this I would like to share a few good eats I have came across over this week's gluten free voyage a restaurant dish, a grocery shop find, and lastly a personal recipe I have that is likely familiar to most of you but has become a sort of staple food for me lately.

1. Avoidance

Logistic Avoidance:

Since taking on the diet I have noticed most prominently in my behavior, that of avoidance. Some days.. most days.. I am much too exhausted with my busy schedule to really take the time to go probing new spots to try and ascertain whether or not they might offer gluten free. Instead many times I stick to set habits and places I know can offer me gluten free options. I understand that for a coeliac living in Hong Kong they must be caught in a sort of repetition similar to my own, this probably makes it rather difficult to explore the city and find new spots. It's a bit dismal to think that a dietary restriction can really limit your mobility and freedom at most times.

Social Avoidance vs. Modification:

Though not as large as I would have expected, an element of social avoidance has been present. There were a few times over the week where I had to decline offers to go get pizza or burgers because they had gluten in them. Though some social situations were avoided or declined, others were able to be modified. For instance, I was asked to join a friend for Chinese food and instead I suggested we go to Little Burro where I was able to eat a gluten free burrito bowl. This way I didn't have to neglect my social obligations but could still adapt to my diet. However, when large groups were planning to go to a gluten latent establishment I felt forced to politely avoid the outing. I now see why someone with coeliac or an extreme gluten allergy might prefer to exclusively spend time with others on the same diet, forming a sub culture.

2. Weight Loss

I didn't particularly expect to lose weight on my gluten free diet. This is because I have been pretty care free about other elements of my diets which I had previously been more restrained in. For example I used to eat meat very sparingly, but since beginning my diet I have more liberally consumed; this is also true for other foods such as rice, sugar, and dairy. The stress and logistical difficulty of eliminating gluten has made me feel much more willing to eat whatever foods are immediately available to me. Though I wouldn't say I feel like I have dived over the deep end, at times I eat things I previously wouldn't have. This is somewhat balanced by the fact that I now cook more and the things I do prepare are relatively healthy.

The past couple of weeks though about 5 coworkers and friends have commented on the fact that I appear to have lost weight. I myself was not aware of this so I was a bit surprised. I would attribute my weight loss to two factors: a lack of carbohydrates and a lack of food in general due to limited food options. Though I am still able to eat rice, I have of course been unable to consume bread and most pastas. Carbs of course are the main things that cause use to gain weight, so I am sure decreasing this has led me to lose some weight. Additionally there have been times that I was unable to eat at all. When I poorly planned and couldn't find any options around this was unfortunately the case. At these times I felt extreme fatigue and irritation, and I am sure I also lost some weight as a result. I plan to purchase a scale this week so that I can track my weight loss more precisely.


3. Language Barriers

For those of you living outside of Hong Kong, it is important to note, this city is incredibly English speaker friendly. Unlike other cities in the mainland China or in Japan most citizens of Hong Kong can speak enough English to make everyday tasks moderately easy for English speakers. I have perhaps never relied on my virtually nonexistent Cantonese speaking abilities to complete everyday task. Therefore, becoming gluten free in Hong Kong presented me with a situation through which language barriers became increasingly prevalent.

Though many local restaurant workers are able to converse in the basic English needed to take down an order, nearly all of them were unable to understand the word gluten. Therefore, it became impossible for me to communicate my dietary need. This further enhanced my avoidance of the more local eating establishments because I knew there would be no way possible for me to bridge this barrier. It was only when dining out with Cantonese speaking friends who understood gluten free diets that I was able to enter such restaurants confidently. This further supports the claim that gluten free eaters will not be able to get the authentically local experience of Hong Kong, as food is one of the key elements in experiencing a new culture.

So this has been the three themes I became most pertinently aware of in gluten free dieting this week, I hope to shed light and share more next time. I find it especially useful to my social research to pin point these themes and share them with others on the diet, in hopes of getting their feedback and really getting to the core of the gluten free lifestyle in Hong Kong.

Onto the food...

1. Restaurant Dish: Locofama's Mushroom Linguine. I do apologize for the photo as I had started to eat early so it doesn't look attractive per se. However, the pasta was a very nice texture and the sauce was exquisite. Locofama is an organic foods restaurant located in Fuk Sau Lane, off of Third Street in Sai Ying Pun. I highly recommend this restaurant if you are a gluten free eater as they have many GF options and understand what GF is etc. You should also try their neighbor, Grass Roots Pantry, which is also a great GF organic and vegan eating option with an excellent dessert menu. I am quite lucky to have these two restaurants in my backyard.

 1. My Own Recipe - Guacamole: As do most Americans, I absolutely love Mexican food. I am not the best cook out there but I do make a killer batch of guacamole. I really recommend this for anyone, gluten free or not, it has always been a hit when I bring it to parties.

Ingredients: 3-5 avocados, 1-2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 red onion, coriander, 1-2 tomatoes, salt, pepper, lemon and Tabasco.

Chop the avocados, garlic, coriander, red onion, and tomatoes. Mash together and stir, squeeze the lemon over the batch, then add salt pepper and Tabasco to your liking. This is a very simple recipe and you can experiment with the portions according to your taste preferences. I guarantee you will love this.

3. While short on time and struggling to find my next lunch option at the grocery store, I came across this amazing gluten free Italian Risotto. I was struggling to read the italian ingredients and pretty sure this would lead to another disappointment, when I noticed the red triangle in the corner of the packaging reading "Senza Glutine", or gluten free in Italian. This was a great surprise, at a very affordable 38HKD this Risotto is very easy to make and has a nice flavor. Would recommend it for the less talented gluten free cooks out there - makes eating in simple, affordable and pretty good for taste.

 Thanks for reading all, see you next week!

Week One: Trials and Tribulations

So the first week of my gluten free diet has come to a close. This week has certainly been filled with challenges, but I am still on the wagon and determined to continue my gluten free mission.

Since last speaking I have been facing the challenging of purchasing gluten free foods both inside stores and restaurants. The former has certainly been easier than the latter. There are many great stores in my neighborhood, Sai Ying Pun, that cater to gluten free eating. One in particular has stood out, SpiceBox Organics on Third Street. They have a vast amount of gluten free eating options, many of which are alternative grains like quinoa, amaranth, and millet - these come in easy to make packages that run about 40-50HKD each, so quite affordable.

I know the shopkeepers from before, and they were extremely sociable and willing to help me in my pursuit. I even got the chance to set up an interview with the owner of the shop, Punam Chopra. She was able to provide some valuable insights on gluten free, organic shopping, and other natural products. Punam had moved from NYC to Hong Kong in 2006, at this time she says she was shocked by the lack of organic quality food products and produce on the market here. She opened SpiceBox hoping to provide these products to the public. She noted that there has been a surge in the demand for gluten free products in the past few years, and therefore nearly all of the products in her store are gluten free.

Here were a couple of the things I tried upon first purchase:

 

This was the Ancient Grains Spanish Style blend with quinoa, millet, and amaranth. I thought this one was just so-so, not quite as flavorful as I would have hoped for. However, it was still an alright selection and the Ancient Grains line as a whole stood up pretty well.

Here is the Ancient Grans Macaroni and cheese which I coupled with mushrooms and fresh garlic. This was perhaps my favorite option so far. I would definitely recommend to add some mushrooms if you like and the Tabasco Chipotle (also gluten free) adds some flavor which seems to be somewhat lacking in the gluten free products I have tried so far.

Now that we have gone over my good experience shopping in stores, it is time to target the challenges that I faced. My first difficulty came about on the first day when I was having an intense craving for chicken. I previously had always gone to La Rotisserie on 3rd Street, which is a French run organic chicken joint, with really great tasting chicken. I figured I would call in advance to inquire if the sauce which they marinate their chicken with contains gluten or not. So I called and I think it might have been a language barrier but no one had a clue what I was talking about, they didn't even understand the word allergy. 

I ended up going to the store to speak in person. The attendants had no clue what I was asking about and eventually got out the head chef and manager, Rudy Quintana. He informed me that the chicken had been seasoned and he was not aware as to whether or not the mix contained gluten. Somewhat frustrated, I purchased chicken for my friend and resolved to eat something else that day.

Rudy did provide a card and email through which we further corresponded. I gave him some information on gluten free and he got back to me shortly. The seasoning did in fact, contain bread crumbs. He let me know that if I could order in advance a whole chicken, he would prepare it gluten free. He also provided me a list of which sides were gluten free. This was all helpful and I did appreciate his willingness to accommodate my request. Still, I was beginning to see first hand the difficulties and inconveniences that go into having an allergy to gluten.

Other restaurants were much more difficult, as of course in Hong Kong there are severe language barriers. I completely avoided very local style shops as any time I even attempted to ask I  would be glared at and of course perceived as incomprehensible. I shortly became limited to eating at home or at very Western, eating options in Soho like Life Cafe and Little Burro. Though these restaurants were easy to order from and had a great level of awareness into gluten free eating, they weren't exactly cheap. So for some of the days I went to work, I would pre make gluten free pasta to eat in the office.

I also quickly became aware that nearly all of the food in 7-11 contains gluten. It seems as if gluten is a staple in most processed foods, which we tend to eat out of convenience. On a particular hunger filled day I was confronted with the vending machine.

It was in this vending machine that I assessed my options. I usually wouldn't eat this junk but I was totally starving and knew I was liable to fly into some sort of a hunger filled rage if I didn't eat within the next half hour. So, I searched peanut butter m&m's on my phone and to my surprise found them to be gluten-free. So I quickly purchased and scarfed them down. This was certainly not healthy, but it did provide convenience.

This week has come with its challenges and a few times I experienced increased fatigue and irritability when I couldn't find a thing to eat. Convenience has been thrown out the door and it has been incredibly frustrating at times because I feel out of control, in terms of being able to eat. It has taken a lot of preparation and planning to regain this sense of control. The more I pre plan my meals the better my days go. Being extremely busy with my 3 jobs and school, this has been incredibly exhausting. I am certainly gaining a sense of empathy for those with celiac disease living in Hong Kong, it is not an easy task!

The Calm Before The Storm

So tomorrow is the big day, the day that I will embark on my roughly two months mission of gluten free dieting in Hong Kong. As part of my ethnographic anthropological study on Gluten Free and imported diets from the West into HK, I will take on an "embodied research" study, where I myself will encounter first hand the social, material, and economic barriers of being gluten-free in Hong Kong.

Though this blog goes hand in hand with a formal research study, it is my intention to keep this blog rather casual and as a sort of diary of my personal experiences from week to week. I would like to share social encounters, recommendations and useful resources to those interested.

Those of you already familiarized with gluten free dieting, are of course, well aware of the struggles that go into eating out gluten free, especially in Hong Kong, where the extent of many local restaurants food adaptations and request go only as far as making dishes vegetarian. The struggle becomes even more real when you can't speak Cantonese and have no reasonable means of communicating with local wait staff. Therefore, I will be doing more cooking, and look forward to posting recipes and the like. I would also like to highlight the good experiences I have eating out, so that gluten free eaters will have some options when searching for a place to eat.

I was of course greatly inspired by the work I have done with Urban Health, a local company which has done a great deal of work focusing in on gluten free foods, products, and services alongside other aspects of healthy living inside of this urban jungle. The work I have done with them so far, has helped to educate me greatly on the many aspects of gluten free living. I have gotten to meet many new friends along the way who are living gluten-free.

I have certainly stalled in beginning my gluten-free diet. Due to my previous work, and previous dieting as a pescatarian, I am well aware of the many challenges that go into taking a restricted diet in HK, especially as an expat. I will have to begin thinking each day of what it is I will eat, planning in advance and coming well armed with snacks so that I don't starve to death. I also likely, won't spend as much time out eating with friends, though hopefully maintain some healthy semblance of a social life.

Anyways, until next week guys! Look forward to relaying my progress..