How to travel Gluten Free and dairy free in Southeast Asia (Malaysia & Singapore)

Its been a while since I have posted... Been busy traveling in Asia, My dear Husband was posted to work in Singapore for around 3 months for the Singaporean MRT train project. So i was so happy that my husband have to work at that part of the world cos as you all already know that I am from Malaysia. It takes only 50 minutes by plane from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. I was super excited for our trip. During the 12 hours flight from Frankfurt to Singapore, I have pre-ordered gluten and dairy free meals for myself. So eating on board safely was covered. Upon arrival in Singapore, We went out to the local restaurant for dinner. It was a local hawker style restaurant. In Singapore you will find mostly Chinese style hawker stalls. Chinese cooking depends heavily on soy sauce and oyster sauce, and as you already know that these two ingredients contain wheat. So its a big NO NO for me. Looking for something gluten free was a bit of a challenge. Lucky enough that I found a small stall serving freshly cooked Malay food. I ordered a plate of rice, vegetables cooked in oil and garlic, and chicken cooked in red chilly paste. I drank mostly Chinese tea or jasmine tea during my whole stay in Asia. During my whole stay in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur I avoided Chinese food strictly. Malay, Indian, Arabic and Persian food was the safer choice. I ate mostly at home as i have an apartment in Singapore and I stayed over at my mum´s place during my stay in Kuala Lumpur. So here are some of the foods which I ate during my stay in southeast Asia.  They are gluten and dairy free and absolutely delicious. I don't eat this meals everyday but only when I am out running errands or when I am out for family outings.

Here is what I ate for breakfast:-

Nasi Lemak is a local favorite breakfast which is just rice cooked in
coconut milk, hard boil eggs, fried anchovies, peanuts ,sliced cucumbers and
chili paste. Don't worry it is not so spicy as it looks and my ohh my they
are so delicious. You can find it in any restaurants.

This tasty flat bread is called Dosa or Thosai. Its so soft and crispy at the same time.
It is normally served with coconut chutney, dhal and curry. Dosa is  made from
fermented rice batter and black lentils. You can find them in any south Indian
restaurants for breakfast or dinners. Its not so heavy and but its filling at the same time.
It is definitely my favorite choice for breakfast.

Banana Leaf  rice...Its so finger lickingly delicious.
 I got parboiled rice, 3 choices of vegetables,curries,
meat and also papadam which is crackers made of  lentils. You can get
this meal at any local south Indian restaurants.

Nasi Goreng  Kampung is one of my favourite fried rice and thank
God that its gluten free cos its made with garlic and chili paste and
 some vegetables and anchovies are added to it. But to be on the safe side just
make sure to mention to the waiter that you want it to be soy sauce free.
You can get this mostly at local Malay restaurants.

Mix rice at a Malay or Indian local restaurants. You have a variety
of vegetables and curries to pick from. They are definitely delicious and
healthy as well. I normally just pick one or two choices of veges and a piece
of chicken or fish. I usually have it with no rice.

Satay served with peanut sauce. It´s so delicious I  have it just for dinner
usually. It is  marinated meat in skewers grilled and served with
peanut sauce and a side of cucumber and onion.

Biryani is another of my favourite choice. It is basmati rice cooked
in spices and meat added to it. But just make sure that there are no
yogurt added to it. Just double check when ordering. You can get this
in arabic restaurants or in pakistani restaurants.

Mandi rice is another tasty succulent rice dish which is worth indulging in.
It is basmathi rice cooked in Arabic spices and served with grilled meat and 
tomato sauce.... yummm. You can get this in most Arabic restaurants.

What I have for snack or tea time:-

Nyonya Kuih are my absolute favorite when it come to local 

snacks. Its absolutely gluten and dairy free. Its has many 

choices to choose from. It comes in small bite sizes. So good for portion

controlling. Its made usually made from tapioca, rice, lentils, sweet potatoes,

yam, coconut and other local ingredients. 

This is what I would eat on days when I am out the whole day or simply when I am traveling with family. I don't eat this everyday. I eat it only when I am out or as a treat. I eat Paleo at home. But when u travel Paleo is definitely hard to do. So this blog is to help people with celiac or autoimmune disease when they choose to travel to Singapore or Malaysia.

As for grocery shopping most shopping malls here such as Coldstorage or Jaya´s Grocers have pretty decent collection of gluten free flours and dairy free milk. For Gluten free bread in Kuala Lumpur you can get them  at Jason´s at Bangsar Shopping Center. But the gluten free bread is only subject to availability. You can call the management and find out when they will be delivering the breads so you don't miss out on the bread, My suggestion is to just go out and indulge in the local food when you are traveling here for holiday. Life is meant to be enjoyed. So when in Asia lets eat the Asian way. 

Here are some phrases in Malay that will help you when you are in Kuala Lumpur :-

• Saya tidak boleh makan gandum - I cannot eat wheat
• Saya tidak boleh minum susu lembu - I cannot drink cows milk
• Saya tidak boleh makan sos soya dan sos tiram - I cannot eat soy sauce or oyster suace
• Alahan - allergy 
• Tenusu - Dairy
• Gandum - wheat 

I hope this simple phrases will help you when communicating or reading labels. Now it is your turn to share your tips and ideas on traveling gluten and dairy free. I would love to hear them in the comment section. Happy traveling guys.