About

About Me

Hello everyone, I am Daphne Goh, the owner, founder, writer, photographer and recipes developer of Healthy gf Asian blog.

Besides, I was born in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. Likewise, I studied in Singapore, Melbourne and Sydney, and now lives in Sydney, Australia.

Growing up, I remember feasting on all the famous restaurant and hawker (street) foods widely available in Malaysia and Singapore. Combined with fond memories of the ever abundance of Chinese, Malaysian and other cuisines that my family cooks and shares. Especially during special occasions and festive seasons like the Chinese New Year. The enjoyment of good food has cultivated a love of food in me since my early childhood.

In addition, for regular workouts and fitness, building stamina and burning calories. I love cardio aerobics – Les Mills™ Body Combat and Body Attack. While for good posture, toning, stretching and relaxation, I love Yoga and Pilates.

Daphne Goh Gluten Free Asian Recipes Healthy gf Asian

Diagnosis of Medical Conditions

I have been able to savour all kinds of food with no problems other than the occasional indigestion until 2009. When I started getting serious bouts of bloating after almost every meal. Especially after eating my favourite dim sums at Chinese yum cha restaurants. Soon after, my gastroenterologist diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Then, I tried elimination diet to avoid food that can potentially irritate my stomach as advised by my specialist. Furthermore, I excluded coffee, chocolate, peanuts, spicy and oily food, alcohol, drinking lots of water each day. Plus removing milk and dairy products from my diet due to lactose intolerance. My IBS symptoms have not improved much.

Gluten Sensitivity and Gluten Free Diet

In late 2013, I discovered that I have non-celiac gluten intolerance or gluten sensitivity. As well as sensitivity to highly processed oil used in most Asian restaurants. Then came the big relieve once I am completely gluten free. My IBS symptoms have improved significantly. As a result, I have reintroduced all the potential food irritants that I eliminated earlier except lactose and gluten.

Up until today, I can still remember really well that when I started to switch to a gluten free diet. I was walking up and down in the supermarket aisles. Checking out the Asian groceries stores, the local health food stores, and the internet. Besides, I was trying to look for gluten free products that can help me prepare my daily Asian meals. It seemed like an almost impossible task at first. But the number of gluten free products that are available on the market nowadays are wide-ranging. Despite this, very limited number of Asian restaurants offers gluten free options on their menu.

About Health gf Asian

By 2014, I have been cooking gluten free traditional and self-developed Asian recipes at home. When I tried to find gluten free recipes on the internet, all I could find are mainly Western recipes. There were hardly any authentic gluten free Asian recipes available.

In early 2015, I decided to start “Healthy gf Asian”, a gluten free Asian recipes, food and lifestyle blog. All in all, my blog focusses on gluten free, lactose free, healthy, simple, easy, delicious and authentic Asian recipes. Additionally, my ingredients are based on lean meat, seafood, fresh fruits and vegetables. Moreover, my gluten free Asian recipes include Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai and Asian desserts. Other Asian recipes comprise of Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian and many more.

Allow me to guide you through the journey of gluten free Asian cooking. Moreover, you will pleasantly surprised by how tasty and yummy gluten free can be. Many of my recipes are also paleo, keto, whole30, vegan, dairy free, egg free, soy free, nut free, and corn free. As well as refined sugar free and allergy friendly. So no matter what food allergy, food intolerance or food sensitivity you have. You can still enjoy wholesome and delicious food.

The majority of Healthy gf Asian’s readers are people with celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, food intolerance, and food allergies. Additionally, some have inflammatory diseases and autoimmune disorders. Plus parents of children with behavioural problems. Furthermore, there are also many readers who just want to eat healthier to improve their health and wellbeing.

Gluten Free Market Today

Fast forward to today, consumers are more health savvy. They place more emphasis on the nutritional values, varieties, look and taste of gluten free food. Rather than just gluten free ingredients. Additionally, consumers are more engaged with health benefits of gluten free and free-from foods. The global gluten free food market is now very competitive and disintegrated with a few large and small wholesalers. Along with rapid technological transformations. Due to wider consumer demands for gluten free food, manufacturers are continuously innovating. Offering wide-ranging variety of new innovative products for gluten free and free-from diets.

The qualities of gluten free products have also improved tremendously with no compromise on taste. Offering more selections as well as much tastier gluten free options for people on a gluten free diet. While there are now a small number of gluten free restaurants and shops who are certified Gluten Free. Offering a variety of gluten free food in Australia. However, eating out continues to prove to be a big challenge due to cross contamination issues. Especially when vendors do not fully understand what is gluten. Continuing education on serving gluten free food is still the key. This is crucial in deciding whether eating out is safe especially for celiac disease sufferers.

Disclaimer

Please note that I am not a nutritionist or any kind of medical or healthcare professionals. Healthy gf Asian blog is for your information only. And not intended to be a nutritional handbook or propose diagnosis of any disorders or health problems. Anyone with any diseases and digestive problems relating to food allergy and food intolerance. Should check with their medical or health care practitioners. Regarding their tolerance to all ingredients in the recipes on this website before consuming.

Hope you will enjoy reading my blog, cooking, eating and sharing my recipes!

Daphne Goh

For further readings:

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Daphne Goh Gluten Free Asian Recipes Healthy gf Asian

10 thoughts on “About”

  1. I’m so glad I came by your website today. Thank you for sharing your ideas and advice. I’m only a couple of years into the fully gluten free life myself. I have Celiac and I think the diagnosis was at least 10 years too late. It will take a while for my body to heal. I’m still not OK, just better. I’m looking forward to reading more.

    Reply
    • I am very happy that you found my blog too! Healing of the gut will definitely take some time and best wishes to you while you are on the road to full recovery. Hope you will continue to enjoy reading my blog, cooking and eating my recipes. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Hi Daphne. Very happy came across your blog. Fellow Malaysian here, diagnosed with gluten intolerance a year after migrated to Sydney . Reading through your bio section, can totally imagine how you feel – journey of bloating, testing trial of foods to discover triggers, reading labels before purchasing. I do not do 100% gf, not with soy sauce or liquid form, only food related with flour like noodles, dessert, meat . So happy to see ham chin Peng in your recipes, one of favourite I will never be bored of. Looking forward to try making it soon.

    Reply
    • I am pleased that you as a fellow Malaysian found my blog too! Food intolerance is a difficult problem to deal with on a daily basis, but after identifying the triggers, you just feel so much better going forward. I react mostly to pure gluten products like bread, cookies, noodles and pasta. Luckily, there are many gluten free options available today.

      I miss all the Chinese and Malaysian favourites too, another reason why I started this blog. Hope my gf Asian recipes will give you more options eventhough you are on a restricted gluten free diet. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Hi Daphne,

    Thank you! I have suffered from many of the complaints you have/had – and more. I love finding new recipes that I can try. And I am particularly excited about finding your recipes today, especially since it is Chinese New Year’s. Chinese food has always been a favourite and, yes, it is next to impossible to find gluten free options in the restaurants. Thanks again!

    Laura

    Reply
    • Hi Laura,

      Its never easy having digestive problems. I am feeling a whole lot better since eliminating food that potentially cause issues for me. Hope you enjoy all my recipes for this Chinese New Year and beyond. 🙂

      Daphne

      Reply
  4. I wish I had found your blog sooner! I was diagnosed about 4 years ago and a lot of my favourite Asian foods became off-limits, so this is a godsend. My mum is from Brunei, so I’m excited to be able to introduce some of my favourite Malaysian and Singaporean foods back into my diet! I can’t wait to try some of your recipes (bao zi, especially)!

    Reply
    • I am glad you found my blog too! My blog was founded with the view to help people on a restricted diet with more healthy and delicious options. I miss all the dim sums especially baos. Hope you enjoy my recipes. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Good morning Daphne, I found your site today when researching GF asian dishes. I am so disappointed that I am unable to copy and paste recipes and particularly the information on the GF Pantry items, however I do understand that there are those unscrupulous people out there who would use all your hard work and advertise it as their own.
    Unfortunately this then makes your site unusable…. perhaps one day you may make it more available to those of us who need this sort of information for our needs. Regards, Jan

    Reply
    • Thank you so much for your feedback on my blog.

      You are right that there are many devious people that could use contents on blogs and claim as their own. After looking up a few popular food blog websites, I have decided to disable content protect on my blog to make it more reader friendly.

      Hope you will be able to enjoy reading and cooking the recipes on my blog. 🙂

      Reply

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