What is the best substitute for milk in soup recipes? (soy, corn)
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I use rice milk all the time for my cream soups. I've used soy & almond milk too, but it is easier for us to find rice milk without the carrageenan that we try to avoid.
Cooked, pureed cauliflower works well in some soups. I made a very simple potato soup (from the Vegan Stoner, I think bongo posted it) made with boiled potatoes, cauliflower, and cabbage. I used Imagine No-Chicken Broth and it came out great. A friend of mine makes mashed potatoes with cauliflower instead of butter. Pureed cauli in soup isn't quite creamy, but it can be a good alternative and it's healthy.
Soy can give a funky bean flavor depending on the recipe. Almond milk can separate. Coconut milk has good fat qualities for adding creaminess but of course also imparts coconut flavor. For me it depends on the recipe.
Potatoes, boiled tender and mashed with the potato masher or hand blender, can give you the creaminess you want. That's great with chowder recipes. Some people use creamed corn to thicken a soup, or even just flour and water with a bouillon cube for that extra-special papier-mache-with-MSG flavor (any port in a storm). You can add saltine crackers or breadcrumbs as well. White beans, cooked and mashed, are a great soup thickener as is soft tofu -- for the latter you have to use a hand blender in my experience.
When I was an entomology undergrad one of my economic entomology professors told us that creamed corn contains a high percentage of dusky sap beetle larvae (the little white larvae live inside the kernels). The most infested corn is used to make creamed corn, and of course, a certain amount of insect parts is allowable in a lot of foods. I don't think the amount in creamed corn is enough to be cause for nausea, but creamed corn is probably the least vegan-y vegetable!
(Note: While what I said is true, I'm not seriously implying that vegans shouldn't use it...I just thought it would be funny to point out.)
Soy milk is very creamy and mild in taste - I use it when I want a creamy consistency and silky mouthfeel. I have never noticed a bean taste. I add garlic and onions and other vegetables to most soups and those flavors tend to dominate in most recipes. I also agree that blended cauliflower is very creamy and mild tasting.
Soft tofu does work great, whirl it in a blender. If not soy milk or coconut milk works well.
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