What to use instead of garlic
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Raw pungency in a dressing, dip or salsa
Crushing a raw clove lets its enzyme build allicin, the compound that burns at the back of the throat. It fades within an hour and dies with heat.
Shallot, minced very fineRan out
1 medium shallot per 2 cloves
Sweeter and gentler with no throat burn, and it stays crunchy in a dressing where garlic would dissolve.
Garlic chives or green garlic topsRan out
2 tbsp finely sliced per 2 cloves
Green and grassy with a mild garlic finish. Adds visible flecks and a little crunch.
Prepared horseradish, in a creamy dipRan out
1/2 tsp per clove
Delivers the heat but sends it to the nose instead of the throat, and brings vinegar with it. Nothing about it tastes of garlic.
What doesn't work: Garlic powder in a raw dressing. It was cooked and dried, so the allicin is long gone. You get dusty background garlic with no bite, and it settles as sludge at the bottom of the jar.
Aromatic base sweated in fat
Gentle heat destroys the harsh compounds and leaves the sweet, savoury sulphur notes, which dissolve into the fat and spread through everything else.
Garlic powderRan out
1/8 tsp per clove, stirred into the liquid
Add it to the pan after the liquid goes in. Dropped into hot fat it scorches within seconds and turns acrid.
Shallot or onionRan out
2 tbsp minced per 2 cloves
Sweeter with more body and moisture. It takes 4 minutes to soften instead of 30 seconds, so put it in earlier.
Asafoetida, bloomed in the hot fatRan out
1/8 tsp in place of both the onion and the garlic in a dish for 4
Smells exactly like alliums frying and tastes savoury and slightly sulphurous. Anything past a pinch dominates the whole pot.
Jarred minced garlicRan out
1/2 tsp per clove
Carries the acid it was packed in, so it tastes slightly tinny and browns poorly. Drain it and add it a minute later than you would fresh.
What doesn't work: Black garlic. Fermentation has turned the sulphur compounds into sweet, molasses-like ones, so a base built on it tastes of prunes and balsamic with no garlic backbone at all.
One medium clove is about 1 tsp minced.