What to use instead of lime
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
Advertisement
Sour finish on Mexican, Thai and Vietnamese food
The acid arrives with bitter and floral compounds from the peel oil, which is why lime reads differently from any other acid even at the same sourness.
Lemon juiceRan out
1:1
Cleaner and sweeter with none of the bitter edge, and the dish drifts Mediterranean. Closest option by a distance.
CalamansiRan out
1:1
More perfumed with an orange undertone. Sharper acid, so start with a little less.
Rice vinegarRan out
2 tsp per 1 tbsp lime juice
Supplies the sourness and nothing else. Acceptable in a cooked sauce and obviously wrong on a taco.
Tamarind concentrateRan out
1 tsp concentrate + 2 tsp water per 1 tbsp lime juice
Sour with a raisiny sweetness underneath, and it turns the sauce brown. It suits Thai and Filipino dishes and looks wrong in a salsa verde.
What doesn't work: Bottled lime juice in guacamole, ceviche or a fresh salsa. Pasteurising strips the aroma, so what lands is a flat, slightly bitter acid with nothing floral behind it.
Acid that cures fish without heat
Below about pH 4 the fish protein unwinds and knits the same way it would in a pan, turning opaque and firm.
Lemon juiceRan out
1:1
Cures at nearly the same speed and tastes rounder and less bitter.
Bitter orange, naranja agriaRan out
1:1, plus 20 minutes
Less acidic and more floral, so it takes longer to firm the fish. Standard in Yucatan and Cuban marinades.
CalamansiRan out
1:1
Cures fast because it is very acidic, and it perfumes the fish strongly.
What doesn't work: Vinegar as the curing acid. It is harsher and it penetrates faster, so the outside of the fish goes chalky while the centre is still raw, and the whole plate tastes pickled.
Sour balance in a drink
It sets the sweetness against something sharp, and the peel oil in fresh juice gives the drink its smell before the first sip.
Lemon juiceRan out
1:1
Softer and rounder. A mojito made with it tastes like lemonade with mint in it.
CalamansiRan out
1:1
More aromatic and slightly sweeter, and it clouds the glass.
Citric acid solutionRan out
1/4 tsp citric acid dissolved in 1 tbsp water per 1 tbsp lime juice
Gives the sourness with no aroma and no cloud, which is useful in a clear drink and flat in a highball meant to smell of lime.
What doesn't work: Lime cordial measured as juice. It is roughly half sugar, so the drink comes out cloying and the acid lands at about a third of what the recipe wanted.
One lime gives about 2 tbsp of juice, against 3 tbsp from a lemon.