What to use instead of lemon juice
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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Acid that brightens a finished dish
About 5 percent citric acid plus a little peel oil from the squeeze. It lowers the perceived heaviness of fat and salt, which is why a dish that tastes dull almost always wants acid rather than more salt.
Lime juiceRan out
1:1
More perfumed and slightly more bitter, and it pulls the dish toward Mexican or Thai whether you intended that or not.
White wine vinegarRan out
use about half as much
Sharper and one-note. No citrus aroma, so the fish tastes correctly seasoned and plain.
VerjusRan out
use twice as much
Softer and grapey. Good where lemon was fighting the wine already in the dish.
Citric acid dissolved in waterRan out
1/4 tsp citric acid + 1 tbsp water per 1 tbsp lemon juice
Pure sourness with no aroma and no cloudiness. Useful in a drink where you want acid without more volume.
Preserved lemon rind, rinsed and mincedRan out
1 tsp minced rind per 1 tbsp juice, and take a pinch of salt out of the dish
Salty, fermented and much more persistent; it stays present through the meal instead of fading in ten minutes.
What doesn't work: Lemon extract. It is peel oil in alcohol with no acid in it whatsoever, so a dressing made with it smells powerfully of lemon and still tastes flat and greasy.
Acid that sets, cures or curdles (ceviche, curd, fresh cheese, a soda-raised bake)
Here the acid is doing chemistry: dropping the pH far enough to denature fish protein, set a curd, split milk into curds and whey, or react with bicarbonate to make gas.
Lime juiceRan out
1:1
Near-identical acidity, so a ceviche or a curd behaves exactly the same. The flavour goes lime.
Distilled white vinegar, for curdling milkRan out
1 tbsp vinegar per 1 cup milk
Ricotta comes out cleaner-tasting with a slightly firmer curd, and no citrus note is left behind.
Cream of tartar, for the acid in a soda-raised batterRan out
1/2 tsp cream of tartar per 1/4 tsp baking soda
No flavour and no liquid, so the batter comes out drier. Add 1 tbsp water per 1/2 tsp used.
Bottled lemon juiceRan out
1:1
Standardised acidity, which is actually the safer choice for canning and curd. It smells cooked and tastes slightly bitter, so it is wrong for a finishing squeeze.
What doesn't work: Orange juice as the acid in a curd or a ceviche. Orange sits well above lemon on the pH scale and carries a lot of sugar, so the curd never sets firm and the fish stays translucent and slack.