Substitutions in Chinese Cooking

Here are some food substitution suggestions for ingredients commonly used in Chinese cooking. From "Catsrecipes Y-Group"

Substitutions

Ingredient	Substitute
Agar-agar (An Asian gelatin substitute that doesn't require refrigeration)	Gelatin
Bamboo shoots	White cabbage
Bok choy	celery or Swiss chard
Chili sauce	1 cup tomato sauce, ¼ cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp vinegar, ¼ tsp cinnamon, dash of ground cloves and allspice
Chinese five-spice powder	Equal amounts cinnamon, star anise, cloves, fennel, and Szechuan peppercorn
Szechuan peppercorn	If Szechuan peppercorns aren't available, use freshly ground black peppercorns
Cilantro or coriander (Chinese parsley)	Parsley (for decoration only, not taste) Can add dash lemon juice
Coconut milk	whole milk in equal amounts, if possible with coconut extract.
Coconut cream	half and half or whipping cream (with coconut extract if possible).
Galangal (used in Thai cooking)	Fresh ginger
Fresh ginger	Candied ginger
Garlic cloves	⅛ tsp garlic powder
Hoisin sauce	Equal amounts ketchup and molasses. Also, sweet bean sauce.
Hot red chili	Crushed red pepper
Lemon grass (used in Thai cooking)	Zest of a lemon
Lotus root flour	Cornstarch (Cornflour)
Mushrooms (straw, clouds ear)	Fresh mushrooms (the taste will be different)
Oyster sauce	Soy sauce
Rice wine vinegar (also called rice vinegar)	Dry sherry, white wine vinegar, or malt vinegar
Sesame oil	1 tbsp sesame seeds fried in ½ cup vegetable oil
Soy sauce	Japanese tamari or Worcestershire sauce
Water chestnut	Jicama (commonly found in the Southern United States)