Friday, July 09, 2010

Recipe Ingredient Substitutions List

The next time you’re missing an ingredient in a recipe, don’t panic.



The next time you’re missing an ingredient in a recipe, don’t panic. Many recipes are flexible and will still come out delicious when you improvise. Plus, many non-vegetarian recipes can be tweaked to create a new veg version.

Use our chart below as a starting point, and start asking yourself questions such as: What do I really want this dish to taste like? What textures do I like? Why did the recipe developer put all of these ingredients in here, anyway? Here are some general guidelines about making substitutions in recipes:

Try to keep ingredients within the same ethnic category. Ethnic flavor combinations have been developed over centuries and blend together naturally. If you are making over a Mexican dish without meat, use traditional Mexican proteins and starches such as pinto beans, black beans, and posole (hominy), not Asian mung beans or Indian lentils.

Dissect the basic flavors of the dish. If you’re missing a certain flavoring, ask yourself if it is basically sweet, salty, sour, bitter, or spicy? Think of something from your cupboard in the same category.

Substituting starches and proteins makes less of a difference in overall taste than spices and flavorings.

Try the pantry approach to cooking: If you find yourself continually missing key ingredients, analyze your pantry and consider restocking it.

Assemble complementary herbs, spices and flavoring in groupings in your pantry. That way, when you are experimenting with a dish—Italian, for example—your Italian seasonings such as basil, parsley, garlic, and oregano will be grouped together, and you can substitute accordingly.

Keep staples such as flours, oils, beans, and grains on hand so you don’t have to run out to the store at the last minute.
MAKE IT MEATLESS
IngredientSubstitute
MeatBeans, cheese, seitan (wheat meat), tempeh (cultured soybeans), textured vegetable protein (TVP), tofu
Meat/seafood stocksVegetable stock, water in which beans, pasta, or vegetables have been cooked, vegetable bouillon cubes, miso (fermented soybean paste) diluted with water
Seasoned or smoked meatsFlavored soy meat substitutes, crumbled tofu seasoned with fennel, parsley, and garlic, canned chipotle chiles, roasted vegetables, toasted nuts, smoked tofu, smoked cheeses
Gelatin Agar-agar (powder or flakes), arrowroot (powder), guar gum (made from seeds), xanthan gum (made from corn), kudzu powder
MAKE IT VEGAN
IngredientSubstitute
ButtermilkClabbered soymilk (1 cup soymilk mixed with 2 tsp. lemon juice or white vinegar)
CheeseSoy- and nut-based cheeses
Cheese or ricotta cheeseCrumbled tofu
EggsEner-G Egg Replacer, 1 mashed banana or 1/4 cup applesauce per egg (best for baked goods); 1 Tbs. agar flakes whisked into 1 Tbs. water and chilled for 5 minutes (for an egg white substitute), 1 Tbs. ground flaxseeds simmered in 3 Tbs. boiling water for 2 minutes
MayonnaiseSoy-based mayonnaise
MilkNut milk, rice milk, soymilk
MAKE IT LOW-FAT
IngredientSubstitute
Creamy soups and saucesNonfat strained yogurt, soymilk, puréed roasted vegetables, cooking rice in soup then puréeing it
Oil in baked goodsApplesauce, puréed bananas, puréed cooked prunes
Oil for sautéingVegetable stock, wine, vinegar
Salad dressingVinegar or citrus juice thickened with puréed roasted red peppers, carrots, onions, or garlic
Sour creamStrained nonfat yogurt
White saucePuréed white beans
MAKE IT ALLERGEN-FREE
IngredientSubstitute
ButterClarified butter (milk solids have been removed), olive oil, sesame oil
ChocolateCarob
Cows’ milkGoats’ milk, soymilk, rice milk, nut milk
Cows’ milk cheeseGoat cheese, sheep cheese, soy cheese, nut cheese
EggsEner-G Egg Replacer, 1 mashed banana or 1/4 cup applesauce per egg (best for baked goods); 1 Tbs. agar flakes whisked into 1 Tbs. water and chilled for 5 minutes (for an egg white substitute), 1 Tbs. ground flaxseeds simmered in 3 Tbs. boiling water for 2 minutes
PeanutsAlmonds
Wheat flour (for baking)Flours made from barley, buckwheat, corn, kamut, oats, rice, rye, spelt
Wheat pastaPasta made from corn, spelt, kamut, quinoa, rice
MAKE IT ETHNIC
OriginIngredientSubstitute
AmericasCactus pads (nopales)Green beans, okra

Chayote squash Yellow or green pattypan squash or zucchini

Poblano or Anaheim chiles Minced jalapeño chiles and green bell pepper

Posole (dried hominy) Canned white hominy
AsianBok choy (Chinese white cabbage)Beet greens, kale, Swiss chard
 Chinese cooking wineDry sherry
 Chinese five-spice powderMixture of anise seed or star anise, fennel seed, cinnamon, black peppercorns, and cloves
 Galangal (Thai ginger)Fresh ginger
 LemongrassLemon zest
 Lotus rootJicama or water chestnuts
 Mirin (Japanese rice wine)Sweet white wine
 Nam pla (Thai fish sauce)Soy sauce and lime juice
 Rice wine vinegarCider vinegar, white wine vinegar
 Sesame oil1 Tbs. sesame seeds fried in 1/2 cup vegetable oil
 Thai basilItalian basil
 Water chestnutsJicama
IndianAtta (chapati flour)1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour plus 1/2 cup sifted whole-wheat flour
 Chana dalSplit yellow peas
 Curry powderMixture of ground ginger, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, turmeric and fennel
 Garam masalaMixture of 1 tsp. cardamom seeds, 1 Tbs. cumin seed, 1 Tbs. coriander seed, 2 tsp. black peppercorns, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. cloves, and 1 tsp. nutmeg
 Jaggery (coarse palm sugar)Date sugar or brown sugar
 Toor dal, urad dal, mung dalRed lentils
MediterraneanBroccoli rabeBroccoli plus arugula or dandelion greens
 Cannellini beansGreat Northern beans, navy beans, red kidney beans
 Fava beansLima beans or butter beans
 FennelCelery plus some fennel or anise seeds
 Parmesan cheeseAny hard, aged grating cheese such as Asiago, Romano or aged Monterey Jack
 Pine nutsWalnuts or a mixture of walnuts and almonds
MAKE IT ALCOHOL-FREE
IngredientSubstitute
Red winePomegranate juice or 1/2 cup water with 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
White wineVegetable stock, apple juice, carrot juice
Wine or beerNon-alcoholic wine or beer

1 comment:

Maynard S. Clark said...

The Mandarin comment could be paraphrased as:

When a person's innermost feelings which mutually conflict (which conflict with each other) can be held at the same time (when a heart and/or mind can hold conflicting values or worldviews 'in tension' at the same time, they can be compared), this person (holding the conflicting feelings, values, our work outlooks) has then begun to appreciate and understand the value (or the worldview, or the ideas).