Living gluten-free, briefly
This page explains how the kitchen behind KGFFC handles gluten — not a medical guide. If you're managing celiac disease or a diagnosed gluten sensitivity, follow your own doctor's or dietitian's guidance over anything written here.
The short version of what "gluten-free" means in these recipes: no wheat, barley, or rye, and no ingredients derived from them — including the ones that hide in plain sight.
Where gluten hides in Korean cooking
Regular soy sauce is brewed with wheat, which makes it the single most common source of hidden gluten in Korean-American recipes — gochujang, ssamjang, and most bottled marinades often carry it too, since soy sauce is a base ingredient. Malt vinegar and some seasoned flours used for frying are the other usual suspects.
The fix used throughout this site: gluten-free tamari or a certified gluten-free soy sauce in place of the regular kind, gluten-free gochujang where it's available, and cornstarch or rice flour instead of wheat flour for dredges and batters.
Cross-contact matters as much as ingredients. A fryer, cutting board, or utensil that's touched wheat can carry enough gluten to matter for celiac disease, even if every ingredient in the recipe is gluten-free.