What to use instead of limes
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 acid squeezed over a finished plate
Uncooked citric acid hits the front of the tongue and cuts fat, so a rich taco or a bowl of guacamole stops tasting heavy.
Fresh lemon juiceRan out
1:1 by volume
Same sourness, none of the resin-and-floral top note. Guacamole goes yellow-green and reads more like a lemon dip.
Calamansi juiceRan out
1:1 by volume
Sharper and more tangerine. Closer to lime than lemon is, and it perfumes a michelada better than either.
Rice vinegar, thinnedRan out
2 tsp rice vinegar + 1 tsp water per 1 tbsp lime juice
Reads as vinegar sourness rather than citrus. Fine stirred into larb or a dressing, obvious on top of avocado.
Lime zest plus lemon juiceRan out
1 tsp finely grated lime zest + 1 tbsp lemon juice per 1 tbsp lime juice
Gets the aroma back onto the plate. The zest floats rather than disappearing, so it shows as green flecks.
What doesn't work: Bottled lime juice from the plastic squeeze bottle. It has been pasteurised and stabilised, so the volatile oils are gone and what is left tastes flat with a bitter tail. It survives inside a cooked marinade and falls apart the moment it is the last thing on the plate.
Acid that firms raw fish in a ceviche
Enough acid to drop the pH denatures the surface protein, so the fish turns opaque and firm without heat.
Fresh lemon juiceRan out
1:1 by volume, fish fully submerged, 15 to 25 min for 1/2 in cubes
Cures at the same speed. Rounder and less perfumed, so the chilli and onion come forward.
Half lime, half sour orange or grapefruitRan out
1/2 cup lime + 1/2 cup sour orange juice per 1 lb fish
Cures a little slower because grapefruit is less acidic. Sweeter, and the fish stays softer in the middle.
What doesn't work: White vinegar. It has more than enough acid to firm the fish, and it strips it at the same time. The flesh goes chalky and opaque all the way through in ten minutes and the whole bowl tastes pickled.
Dried lime souring a long-simmered stew
Dried limes are fermented before drying, so they release sourness plus a musty, almost tea-like bitterness over an hour in the pot, and that only develops with time.
Tamarind pasteRan out
1 tbsp paste per 2 dried limes, stirred in at the halfway point
Sour and fruity with no bitterness. Darkens the stew and thickens it slightly.
Preserved lemon, rind onlyRan out
1/4 of a preserved lemon, rinsed and finely chopped, per 2 dried limes
Brings salt with the sour, so cut the added salt. More floral, no musty edge.
SumacRan out
2 tsp ground sumac per 2 dried limes, added in the last 15 min
Clean tart with a slight astringency. It stays on the surface of the flavour rather than soaking into the meat.
What doesn't work: Fresh lime juice standing in for dried limes at the start of a ghormeh sabzi. Most of the acid volatilises across an hour of simmering, so an hour later you have a stew that tastes of nothing in particular and a bright wet note if you add more at the end.
Pierce dried limes a few times before they go in, otherwise they float and give up very little.