Chinese New Year's Feast - Jan/Feb 02

[Pat&Bob]

Our CL supper club is preparing the Chinese New Year's feast for our next get-together.

Alas, I am allergic to soy (and tofu). Any suggestion of substitutions I can make for soy sauce, soy milk and tofu in the recipes? Thanks!

[Susan]

Hmmm...that's a tough one. You might want to look over these pages at Cook's Thesaurus for help on substitutions:

Soy Products http://www.foodsubs.com/Soyprod.html

Asian Condiments http://www.foodsubs.com/CondimntAsia.html

Other Asian Noodles http://www.foodsubs.com/NoodlesAsianOther.html

Happy Chinese New Year!

~Susan~

[Pat&Bob]

I'll check those out those resources. I never ever imagined how many products have soy in them until I developed this silly allergy -- everything from mayonnaise to microwave popcorn.

[aggie94]

I found the following at foodsubs.com:

soy sauce Notes: Soy sauce is made from soybeans that have been fermented and salted. It's used throughout Asian, with different regions producing quite different variations. Japanese soy sauce = shoyu is sweeter and less salty than Chinese soy sauce. Chinese soy sauce comes in light and dark versions. Lite soy sauce has 1/3 less sodium. Substitutes: tamari (thicker) OR Maggi seasoning OR black bean sauce thinned with water OR kecap manis (much sweeter) OR Worcestershire sauce

firm tofu Notes: Choose this style of tofu if you want to cut it into cubes for stir-frying or crumble it into salads. Rinse and drain the tofu before you use it. Tofu will absorb more flavors and hold its shape better if you press out some of the water before marinating or cooking it. To do so, place the tofu on several layers of paper towels or cheesecloth, cover it with plastic wrap, and put something heavy on it. Do this for at least an hour, or put the whole assembly in a pan and set it in the refrigerator overnight. Store tofu in the refrigerator, changing the water daily, and use it within a week. Freezing firm tofu will make it chewier and give it a meatier texture. Look for cakes of it in plastic tubs in the refrigerated sections of supermarkets and health food stores. Substitutes: extra-firm tofu OR regular tofu OR pressed tofu OR atsu-age OR paneer OR meat (in stir fries) OR feta cheese (in salads)


I haven't looked closely at the recipes, so I'm not sure how these substitutions would affect the end result, but I'd try Worcestershire sauce (does it have soy in it?) for the soy sauce and some kind of meat for the tofu (unless it's the kind of tofu where cheese might be a more appropriate sub). Oh, and for soy milk, I'd just sub regular milk.

Please let me know how the feast turns out. I'm planning for our February supper club meeting to do this menu for a Chinese New Year celebration, and I'm anxious to hear recipe reviews!

[wallycat]

do you have SEVERE allergy?? some people can tolerate "fermented" products like tamari (which is soy without wheat) and tempeh, which is a fermened soy product.
If this is a serious allergy and not an intolerance, I'd suggest a simple steamed meal...seafood or pork with broccoli and rice...or a stir-fry that uses minimal ingredients...
refried rice using veggies, rice, an egg...and a protein of your choice (NOT tofu) would work as well...

You could opt for a lo mein type dish with noodles or a big bowl of the soup with udon noodles and slices of pork (or you can go vegetarian)....


Good luck;)