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Low FODMAP Asian Recipes: How To Make Them & Eat Out

October 25, 2022 (Last Updated: November 15, 2022)
low fodmap asian recipes

Creating low FODMAP Asian recipes was really important to me because finding low FODMAP Asian recipes on an IBS low FODMAP diet is hard. This post will show you how to make 22 low FODMAP Asian recipes, how to adjust any recipe to make it IBS-friendly, and what to avoid when eating out.

Here’s an overview of everything. You can click on each section to navigate through the post and skip through any section:

I started this blog with my partner because we wanted to turn our favorite recipes into recipes that wouldn’t cause us pain. I love food and being Asian with dietary restrictions like onions is HARD. So, I hope you enjoy some of my favorite recipes made low FODMAP.

Low FODMAP Asian Recipes

Looking for a low FODMAP stir fry, low FODMAP Asian noodles or low FODMAP lunch recipes? This section has 14 savory low FODMAP recipes and 8 desserts. Click on the pictures to be redirected to the recipe:

Meats & Seafood

Low FODMAP Recipes Vegetarian

Vegan

Desserts

Wondering how you can transform regular recipes to easy low FODMAP meals? Hop on to the next section for some tips:

Creating Your Own Low FODMAP Asian Recipes

canned tuna fried rice

New to the diet and have zero low FODMAP dinner ideas? The easiest way to make any dish work for you is to swap out high FODMAP ingredients for low FODMAP options:

NOTE: Garlic powder and onion powder are high FODMAP ingredients and should be avoided.

  • Soy sauce: Soy sauce is low FODMAP if consumed within the recommended serving size. You can read more about different kinds of soy sauces and their FODMAPs here.
  • Soy products: Some soy products are low FODMAP. Read all about it here. Do you love tofu? You don’t need to give it up! Firm tofu is low FODMAP
  • Flour: A low FODMAP diet is not a gluten free diet but wheat flour is an issue for many with IBS. Use gluten-free flour like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour or rice flour to make low FODMAP gluten-free recipes.
  • Vegetables: I think one of the hardest parts about eating LoFo was cutting out a lot of my favorite vegetables. Swap high FODMAP veggies like broccoli and cauliflower out for Chinese cabbage, bean sprouts, bok choy, or green beans!

Let’s put our knowledge to work and test these tips out on some recipes. A lot of our recipes are onion free but you’ll notice that our regular Asian recipes have garlic in them. We’re lucky that garlic made it back into the reintroduction phase. Did you know that you don’t have to avoid high FODMAP foods forever? Monash debunks IBS cooking myths here.

Recipe 1: Canned Tuna Fried Rice

This recipe has 4-5 cloves of garlic soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Make this recipe low FODMAP by swapping a 1:1 ratio of garlic to garlic salt or garlic oil. The recipe uses 3 tablespoons of soy for 2-3 cups of rice which serves 4-5 people which is within the recommended serving size.

How about something more difficult like cauliflower wings?

Recipe 2: Korean Cauliflower Gochujang Wings

There are 4 main issues with this recipe. The first is cauliflower (my personal death), second, wheat flour, third, garlic, and fourth, the Korean chili paste (gochujang). Say no to cauliflower and use FODMAP free oyster mushrooms or protein like chicken instead.

Swap out the regular flour with gluten free flour, ditch the garlic and add garlic salt instead and choose low FODMAP certified condiments like Fody’s Korean Sauce.

Asian food is a huge spectrum. Growing up in Malaysia meant that I ate Malay, Indian and Chinese food everyday. This lamb shoulder curry recipe is a great example for a dish that can be modified. 

Recipe 3: Lamb Shoulder Curry

One of our favorite non-low FODMAP slow cooker recipes is this lamb curry. Of course it has garlic so, remove the garlic or use garlic infused oil.

The curry powder is tricky because most store-bought curry powders have onion powder and garlic powder which are high FODMAP. You can make your own low FODMAP curry powder mix (I show you how to do that in the post) or buy Fody’s low FODMAP seasoning.

Making food that’s good for your gut doesn’t have to be hard and it isn’t when you have full control over what’s going in your food. The real challenge (for me, at least) was eating out. 

Eating Out: Low FODMAP Asian Ingredients

It’s ideal if you know your tolerances or stay within Monash University’s serving size recommendations. But it’s okay if you don’t. Try keeping within these ingredients when eating various Asian cuisines.

MALAYSIAN, SINGAPOREAN & INDONESIAN

These three countries share a rich history, culture, and some of its food. My mom would not believe I was cooking Malaysian food without garlic or onion because the holy trinity in Malaysian, Singaporean, and Indonesian food is garlic, onion, and ginger.

Stay away from pastes, broths, soups, curries and condiments like sambal. Stick to stir fry dishes like kuey teow (a rice noodle dish) or ask for dishes where onion and garlic can be removed.

CHINESE

Chinese food and takeout is popular all over the world. Most stir fry dishes can be made without garlic or onion but be sure to watch out for serving sizes of noodles. Egg noodles are made with egg and wheat flour. Most breads or dumplings are also made with regular wheat flour. Opt for snow skin or rice skin dumplings because they’re made from rice flour!

VIETNAMESE

Broths and soups will have garlic and onion. Stay away from Pho unless you can tolerate onions. If you order noodles, ask for rice vermicelli noodles. They’re low FODMAP! Rice paper rolls are great low FODMAP options. Make sure to ask what vegetables are inside.  

THAI

This one’s tough. I’m half Thai and can tell you 100% that curries will have onions and garlic. Luckily, you can choose from many stir fry dishes and ask without garlic or onion. I do this A LOT when I’m back home in Thailand.

Pad Thai is a great example of low FODMAP Asian recipes because it uses no onion, garlic, and has rice noodles. Make sure to specify how hot you want your food. Thai people are known for their love of spicy food and add lots of chili.

JAPANESE

Japanese food is one of my favorites and it’s also pretty safe. Sushi is always a safe bet, noodles are often buckwheat or soba (low FODMAP) and grilled meats are often seasoned with soy but not too much that it would cause any pain!

KOREAN

I love Korean BBQ! Korean food has a lot of garlic so try ordering dishes that have little marinades. Beef bulgogi is a favorite that I usually order but without onions. Stay away from condiments like kimchi. Kimchi is made with lots of high FODMAP ingredients like garlic, onion, and spring onion. 

INDIAN & PAKISTANI

Technically, India is located in Asia: South Asia to be specific. This is probably the most challenging cuisine as a lot of the curries have onion or garlic. It’s important to ask restaurants about dishes with the least amount of garlic or onions if you can’t tolerate these ingredients. I recommend making Indian food at home instead.

The nice thing about Indian food is that the base is almost always ghee. Ghee is a clarified butter that has even LESS LACTOSE THAN BUTTER. Curious? Read about it here.

Is Ghee Low FODMAP?

That’s the end of this low FODMAP Asian recipes post. I hope this helped you find alternatives to your favorite dishes or ways to order out at your go-to restaurant. What are some of your favorite foods that are hard to modify? Leave them in the comments below and maybe I’ll make a low FODMAP version of it!

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