Substitute for rice wine/wine or brandy or shandy in cooking?

Question

I've been looking at few chinese recipes but the thing that bothers me is that practically all of it contains some kind or another type of alcohol. I'm a muslim, therefore we're not allowed to have any kind of alcohol in our food and drinks. So, can anybody help me?

Answer 1

Any time you see wine/brandy/sherry etc in a recipe you can substitute grape juice or apple juice. Grape juice is preferable because it has the same flavor as wine, just not the alcohol. Many non-muslims do this substitution as well.

Answer 2

Ginger ale will work for the shandy. The alcohol in wine will cook off and leave you with a non-alcoholic food if indeed, the dish is heated to above boiling for 10 minutes or so.

Answer 3

Try a chicken stock. It works just as well. To add a little more flavor when using chicken stock, a little bit of rice vinegar or fish sauce goes a long way. Good luck!