Brown/white sugar brands?

[NickB]

Hello all,

I am going to be teaching a friend who suffers from gluten intolerance a bit of Thai cooking in the near future.

I typically use light brown sugar in place of palm sugar, since palm sugar would require ordering from the 'net, but I realize that brown sugar may not be GF. As I'd really rather not make my friend sick, is there a common brand of brown sugar that is GF? I sent Domino an email, but they haven't gotten back to me.

If all else fails, the Navitas Naturals palm sugar is apparently GF, and I'll just order that. But I'd rather just have something that we can get at the grocery store.

In a similar vein, I was also wondering what brands of regular sugar to check out? I was going to do some dessert as well, and again, I don't want to make anyone sick.

Thanks in advance!

[The Edifying Conscience]

[Home-Based-Mom]

It never occurred to me that sugar wouldn't be gluten free. I always thought sugar was one of those one ingredient products and that one ingredient was sugar.


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Sandi ~ learning to live in a world obsessed and infested with wheat.
"If it wasn't food 100 years ago, it isn't food now." Mike Huckabee
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[aklap]

Hi Nick,

Welcome to the board! That's very nice of you, you're a great friend!! Perhaps you'd like to do a few posts here on Thai cooking.

Good luck! If you've got other GF questions don't be afraid to ask.
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Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[NickB]

Edifying: Thanks! It occurs to me after reading your suggestion on ingredients that, if nothing else, I can take molasses and mix it with white sugar to get what I want. One extra step in a recipe isn't so bad.

Home-Based: I would assume most white sugar is fine, but having read a bit about being GF I was concerned that a product might be processed in a factory where wheat was also processed, leading to a problem.

aklap: I'd be happy to put up a couple posts on Thai food once I get my ingredients 100% lined out. It seems like Thai food is one of the easiest cuisines to make GF without compromising anything; most of the Taste of Thai and Thai Kitchen brand stuff appears to be GF (and it's all clearly labeled both on the product and on their websites).

In general, Thai food is super delicious, generally quite easy to make, and it's easy to modify dishes to accommodate one's own taste. I might hesitate to call it the perfect weapon in a home cook's arsenal, but it's close.

[cultureslayer]

I've not had any problems with rice noodles from the asian grocery store either, although I am not the most sensitive so ymmv.

I've been able to figure out a decent peanut sauce, but haven't tried making pad thai sauce yet.
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Lauren
Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.

[Kathie]

Walmart's brown sugar is labeled gluten free. We use Florida Naturals Organics for white.
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CD by Biopsy 3/25/88

[aklap]

[jsb]

You may be able to find palm sugar at an Asian market nearby. At ours, it is in the "Vietnamese" aisle.
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Jen
GF since 10/07