Some of my standard substitutions for Asian-food staples:

• Soy sauce = Maggi Seasoning (no soy, but wheat) never bothers my mild soy allergy.
• Soy sauce = Two friends recommend San-J Wheat-Free Tamari (I’ve never used it – you know, the soy). Another friend recommends Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

• Fish sauce = add a 1inchx2inch piece of cooked salmon (or raw if you’re making soup anyway)
• Fish sauce = add a 1inchx2inch piece of smoked salmon works too
• Fish sauce = (I know the above don’t help you if you have a fish allergy – for you I’d add a good dollop of salt, or perhaps some seaweed if that works) You might even try beef bouillon

• sesame oil = canola oil with a touch of Maggi or “soy sauce”
• sesame oil = canola oil with some spice added, try a grind or two of white pepper to get that “Asian spice flavor”, or a bit of Fenugreek to add the richness of sesame

• “seasoned” rice wine vinegar = usually is seasoned with sugar and salt. Judge for yourself whether it is worth the risk, we have no trouble with it
• rice wine vinegar = white vinegar or apple cider vinegar with a little sugar

• bean sprouts = julienned broccoli stems (crazy, right?!)

• Shiso leaf = peppermint leaf or basil leaf (it isn’t at all the same, but sometimes random weird ideas work)

• bean noodles = rice noodles

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this yet. My go-to actually-for-real-egg-free egg substitute is Ener-G Egg Replacer. It is currently carried by Amazon.

Ener-G Egg Replacer

Their listed ingredients (but check your own box to be sure) are: Potato Starch, tapioca starch flour, leavening (calcium lactate [not derived from dairy], calcium carbonate, citric acid), sodium carboxymethylcellulose, methylcellulose.

I follow the directions on the back of the box. I always use it in baked goods, and have had luck in things like chicken nuggets as well which I wasn’t expecting.

When that’s not an option I use this recipe:

• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon water (or other liquid)
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network keeps a good list of substitutes on hand as well.

Brianna’s Zesty French Dressing is almost creamy enough to pass for an herbed mayonnaise. It is slightly spicy, but not overly vinegary. It is more runny than mayo, so be sure to figure that in when substituting.

Brianna's Zesty French

Beware! Brianna’s labels often picture foods that are not actually contained within the dressing. The most famous kerfuffle involves their Dijon Honey Mustard – which not only pictures an avocado, but is the exact same shade of green. There are no avocados in the Honey Mustard.

I wouldn’t use it in a chocolate-mayonnaise cake*, but in a case where you’re using mayo and don’t mind some spice and flavor, it works out quite well.

As of 6/2009 Brianna’s is available on Amazon.

*Yes, chocolate-mayonnaise cake. If you haven’t tried it, and you can have both chocolate and mayonnaise I recommend it.

If you’ve ended up without milk in your life, cooking and baking can sometimes be difficult. Luckily there’s Soy Milk. Unfortunately, if you’re also non-soy you’re left with Rice Milk. The consistency of Rice Milk is often incorrect for baking. It is about as good a substitute for milk as water mixed with a little sugar.

Enter upon the scene: Oat Milk!!

Pacific brand Oat Milk

The consistency and sweetness of oat milk are much more like regular 2% milk than any other non-milk substitute I’ve ever tasted. I use it one for one in recipes calling for milk – even puddings! I discovered oat milk about 4 years ago, and I love it … but I’m also worried about how long it will be around. There’s only one brand sold in Washington State, so I do my best to buy as much of their product as I can to keep them alive.

My milk-drinking friends even like the taste of it, (though it doesn’t taste like milk.)

Go Dairy Free has a good review of what oat milk is all about, and they point out that if you’re gluten-intolerant, this probably isn’t the milk solution for you.

I buy Pacific Natural Foods brand. Bear in mind THEY ALSO MAKE NUT MILKS. So judge the safety of this ingredient for yourself. They do not list nuts as a cross-contaminant, and the milk is also marked Kosher Pareve. Their website has full side-of-the-box nutritional information for your edification. If you’re bean-sensitive, this brand also has carob bean gum in it. THIS IS LISTED AS GLUTEN CROSS-CONTAMINATED on their awesome food-sensitivities guide.

With a milk allergy and a soy allergy I used to cringe every time I saw “butter” or “shortening” listed in a recipe. Even the phrase “milk-free, soy-free margarine” made me laugh out loud. I couldn’t find a single instance of that ephemeral substance in all of Seattle. I made do with canola oil* until I found this:

Spectrum Shortening (Palm Oil)

Palm Oil. I buy Spectrum brand. It’s a solid fat that has neither milk nor soy. Yes! Also, I don’t have to adapt the amounts.

*When using canola or olive oil instead of a solid fat you need to reduce the amount of oil or you food gets … oily. I usually start with about 3/4 oil for every 1 cup of butter/margarine/shortening called for.