Substitutes in Cooking

Nothing can be substituted for; some say. But that doesn't seem to be true in case of cooking and eating. "If not this, then that", is the general human tendency there. We try to find substitutes for everything in life, although somewhere at the back of our minds, we know that's not really possible. Substituting everything in life is impossible and so be it!

But, when it comes to food, there are substitutes for almost every food ingredient. But there is one thing that cannot be substituted for, it's the taste. Why do similar recipes made by different people have different tastes? It is because the taste of a recipe does not depend only on its ingredients and method of preparation. It also depends on who cooks it. It's not just the ingredients that go into a recipe and give it the taste. And if 'only' they did, mother's recipes wouldn't taste different! When mom prepares food, perhaps her love sneaks into the recipe and adds to the ingredients! And that is why nothing can substitute for the flavor of something that's mom-made. There can be substitutes for ingredients but there's no substitute for the taste.

Why recipe substitutions? We need them when certain ingredients are unavailable at home or in the market. When we forget to buy the stuff we need, that is when we need to get hold of something that is handy. Using margarine as a substitute for butter and vice versa is a common example of the use of substitutes in cooking. Vegetable oil and vegetable shortening can substitute each other; grape juice can substitute wine. It's common sense to use foods of similar flavor as alternatives for one another. Obviously, you won't like the substitutes to bring about a radical change to how your recipe tastes. Or you will find yourself finding a substitute for what you have cooked!

Cooking is an art, for some, a hobby, a stress buster. I am sure you wouldn't want to alter the taste of what you are planning to prepare, just because you are using substitutes. The use of substitutes in cooking is an adjustment with the availability of foodstuffs. It's definitely not a compromise with the taste. So, choose the substitutes right and go for them only if you don't have the originals at hand. Mostly, when you are short of time to buy the ingredients or when you don't have them in the required quantities, you need to opt for their substitutes. Here is a list of the different substitutes in cooking. It will help you find the right alternatives in cooking and still retain the near-original flavor of the dish. With this list handy, you won't have to cook up stories of the unavailability of ingredients. You will be able to cook; if not with the actual ingredients, but definitely with their readily available substitutes!

Here we give you tables for ingredients falling under different categories. Each table gives you a list of recipe ingredients along with their substitutes. In some cases, the substitute is the one most commonly used; in some cases, it's one of the many that are used. There can be many alternatives for a given ingredient. For other alternatives apart from the ones given in the table, you can refer to the 'also see' column and start planning what to cook next and how; with the actual ingredients or their substitutes? Whichever way you choose, be happy while you cook; it will reflect in the recipe. That's another thing that can't be substituted for.

Substitutes in Baking
Given here is a substitutes list for ingredients that often get into the oven or the microwave and come out baked and delicious. Take for example cakes and bread recipes, that most of us love to eat. Can you imagine anything substituting for bread flour? Do you think there can be an egg substitute in cake? Well, if you don't, you are wrong. There are alternatives for so many things in baking. Read on to find out.

Food Item	Substitute(s)	Also See
Egg	Tofu	Egg Substitute in Baking
Sugar	maple syrup, honey, molasses	Sugar Substitutes for Baking
Cocoa	carob powder	Cocoa Powder Substitute
Kirsch	Cherry syrup	Kirsch Substitute in Baking
Oil in Baking	apple sauce, butter	Oil Substitute in Baking
Baking Powder	baking soda with cream of tartar, buttermilk or lime juice	Baking Powder Substitute
Baking Soda	baking powder	Baking Soda Substitute
Cream of Tartar	baking powder	Cream of Tartar Substitute
Shortening	butter, margarine or oil	Shortening Substitute
Cake Flour	all-purpose flour with cornstarch or pastry flour	Cake Flour Substitute
Bread Flour	all-purpose flour	Bread Flour Substitute
Self Rising Flour	all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt	Self Rising Flour Substitute

Substitutes for Milk and Milk Products
Condense it, it's tastier; evaporate it, it can still be used; powder it, it's still not useless; extract all its fat or make it sour; process it in the way you like; its usability won't diminish at all. Well, I am talking about milk! Milk in all its forms and their substitutes...that's what the following table gives you. Take a look.

Food Item	Substitute(s)	Also See
Milk	plant milk, grain milk	Milk Substitute
Evaporated Milk	dry milk and water, soy milk or fresh milk	Evaporated Milk Substitute
Condensed Milk	mixture of dry milk, boiling water and butter, with sweetener added	Condensed Milk Substitute
Powdered Milk	regular milk or coconut milk	Powdered Milk Substitute
Heavy Cream	a mixture of milk and unsalted butter	Heavy Cream Substitute
Sour Cream	butter added to sour milk of buttermilk	Sour Cream Substitute
Butter	margarine or olive oil	Butter Substitute
Buttermilk	yogurt or cream of tartar added to plain milk	Buttermilk Substitute

Substituting for Sauces
Sauce, derived from the Latin word salsus, which means salted, is an important element of every cuisine. Be it a French food recipe or a pasta from the Italian cuisine; be it Chinese, Peruvian, Korean or British, sauces are a part of every kind of cooking. They are a must-haves for the saucy flavor they render to recipes. But what if the sauce is not available with you every time you need it? The simple solution is to opt for its substitute. Here is the table of substitutes for some of these commonly used sauces.

Food Item	Substitute(s)	Also See
Oyster Sauce	soy sauce or fish sauce	Oyster Sauce Substitute
Soy Sauce	concoction of garlic vinegar, onion powder, ground ginger and blackstrap	Soy Sauce Substitute
Tomato Sauce	tomato paste or tomato juice	Tomato Sauce Substitute
Hoisin Sauce	a paste of prunes and sherry, soy sauce and garlic added	Hoisin Sauce Substitute
Worcestershire Sauce	steak sauce or soy sauce	Worcestershire Sauce Substitute

Substitutes for Food Additives: Spices, Herbs, Sweeteners
The table that follows enlists the substitutes of ingredients that spice up food - the herbs and spices and of ingredients that sweeten food recipes - yes, the sweeteners; all of which are categorized as food additives as they make a value addition to the taste of food.

Food Item	Substitute(s)	Also See
Anise Seed	star anise seeds or fennel seeds	Anise Seed Substitute
Bay Leaf	thyme or ground basil	Bay Leaf Substitute
Cardamom	mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves or brown cardamom(lesser expensive substitute)	Cardamom Substitute
Fennel	celery	Fennel Substitute
Celery Seed	celery salt or dill seed	Celery Seed Substitute
Celery Salt	ground celery seeds	Celery Salt Substitute
Cumin	caraway or anise seeds	Cumin Seeds Substitute
Coriander Seeds	a mixture of caraway, cumin and fennel seeds	Coriander Seeds Substitute
Galangal	ginger root	Galangal Substitute
Nutmeg	cinnamon or mace	Nutmeg Substitute
Paprika	cayenne pepper, red pepper or chili powder	Paprika Substitute
Vegetable Oil	applesauce, coconut oil	Vegetable Oil Substitute
Cooking Oil	applesauce	Cooking Oil Substitute
Sesame Oil	peanut oil or toasted sesame seeds; light sesame oil for the dark one	Sesame Oil Substitute
Canola Oil	vegetable oil, olive oil	Canola Oil Substitute
Safflower Oil	canola oil, soybean oil	Safflower Oil Substitute
Grape seed Oil	safflower oil, sunflower oil	Grape seed Oil Substitute
Xanthan Gum	guar gum	Xanthan Gum Substitute
White Wine Vinegar	white vinegar or cider vinegar	White Wine Vinegar Substitute
Powdered Sugar	blended mixture of granulated sugar and cornstarch or blended plain sugar	Powdered Sugar Substitute
Brown Sugar	mixture of granulated sugar and molasses	Brown Sugar Substitute
Corn Syrup	honey or molasses	Corn Syrup Substitute
Molasses	corn syrup, brown sugar	Molasses Substitute
Agave Nectar	sugar syrup, honey, maple syrup	Agave Nectar Substitute
Vanilla Extract	maple syrup, almond extract, Fiori di sicilia extract or vanilla essence	Vanilla Extract Substitute
Vanilla Bean	vanilla extract	Vanilla Bean Substitute

Other Foods and their Substitutes
There's always this 'others' category in everything. Something that does not belong to any particular category is conveniently made a part of 'others'. The table below enlists substitutes for all those food items that could not be made to belong to any of the aforementioned categories. But they are important in their own right.

Food Item	Substitute(s)	Also See
Dry White Wine	dry white vermouth, apple cider vinegar(non-alcoholic)	-
Coconut Milk	combination of hot water or milk and coconut cream	Coconut Milk Substitute
Cornstarch	rice flour, arrowroot, potato flour or all-purpose flour(double the qnty)	Cornstarch Substitute
Tapioca Flour	arrowroot powder	Tapioca Flour Substitute
Cocoa Powder	baking soda added to unsweetened chocolate	Cocoa Powder Substitute
Cream Cheese	French Neufchtel, ricotta cheese or fat-free yogurt	Cream Cheese Substitute

Remember, substitutes in cooking serve the right purpose only when you know what not to substitute for.