Halal substitution for wine in recipes

During many of our halal cooking classes or masterclasses, one repeated question that we receive the most is, what if a recipe calls for wine as an ingredient?

There are many ways to substitute a wine to make the dish halal or muslim-friendly:

Red Wine:

• Red Grape Juice 
• Cranberry Juice 
• Chicken/Beef/Vegetables Broth 
• Fruit Juices 
• Flavoured Vinegar 
• De-alcoholized Red 

• 50:50 Lemon juice and water 
• Fish Stock + Vinegar or Lemon Juice 
• White Grape Juice 
• De-alcoholized White  

• Concord Grape Juice with some Lime Zest added 
• Cranberry Juice with Lemon Juice 
• Grape Juice Concentrate 
• Orange Juice or Apple Juice (for lighter Port wine) 

Mussels in Saffron and White Wine Sauce

Prep & Cooking Time: 50 minutes | Serves: 10 Portion

INGREDIENTS

15 g Butter

15 g Garlic, chopped

210 ml White Wine (Instead, 200ml Fish Stock + 10ml Vinegar/Lemon Juice)

45 ml Heavy Cream

2 tsp Saffron threads

50 g Green Onions, thinly sliced

160 g Tomato Concasse

30 ml Lemon Juice

2.5 kg Mussels, cleaned & debarred

2 tbsp Chives, chopped

480 ml Veloute

Veloute:

40 g Corn Starch

960 ml Fish Stock

240 ml Evaporated Skim Milk

3/4 tsp Pink Salt

1/4 tsp White Pepper, grounded

METHODS

1. Heat the butter in a large pot, over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until aromatic. Add the wine, cream and saffron, and simmer for 5 minutes. 
2. Add the green onions, tomato concasse, lemon juice and veloute. Simmer for 5 minutes, cool and reserve until needed. 
3. To serve, bring the veloute mixture to a simmer in a medium pot. Add the mussels and cover pot. 
4. Steam the mussels until their shells open (dispose any mussels that remain closed) for about 4 minutes. Stir the chives into the sauce and pour over the mussels. 
5. Best enjoy with bread. 

1. Combine the cornstarch with enough stock to form a paste. 
2. Bring the remaining stock to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the cornstarch mixture and the milk to the boiling stock. Stir constantly until the sauce has thickened, about two minutes. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. 
3. Keep hot, or cool down and store in fridge for up to three days.  

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