Genuine Chinese cooking uses no dairy; I have never seen my in-laws use milk
when they cook Chinese.  When they cook Western...

By "genuine", I mean veggies that are stir-fried, steamed rice and meat that
is not battered but cut up, seasoned (usually by brown sugar, starch and soy
sauce) and stir fried and then a sauce is added and I have never to date
found milk in any form in soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoi sin sauce nor black
bean sauce.

When we eat out Chinese, we go to proper restaurants and not buffets.  My
son has never had an incident.  We also do dim sum regularly and he eats
everything (if he wants it that is) with the exception of steamed pork buns
(more like baking therefore suspect).

Anything in a bun or any of their desserts that involve baking or frying
(they have their own style of doughnuts), we don't try.

In more American style Chinese cooking, anything with a batter is suspect.
In  my experience, batter = milk.  We have purchased frozen egg rolls with
no milk in the past.  In a restaurant, you would have to ask the waiter for
the ingredients.  They often do not know and then have to ask in the
kitchen.

You might be better off ordering other stuff without batters.  It's
healthier too!  I have never seen my in-laws prepare anything with a batter
and fry it as they don't think it's a healthy meal.

I have also been told, but I have never seen stats to prove it, that Asians
are prone to being lactose intolerant.  So, if that were the case, if you go
for proper Chinese cooking and not American style, you should find less milk
involved, if not none at all.

Hope that helps.

On Sat, Aug 16, 2008 at 2:24 AM, Molly Johnson <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> A few things to add to the list.
> I've found that rice ice cream is okay, although I am having a hard time
> getting my grocery store to stock the vanilla flavor and not some nut kind
> that tastes horrible. Soy ice cream is awsome but I have an allergy to soy
> now so it's out.  I've also found that many of the organic cookies and
> treats contain dairy, unfortunately. I find experimenting works well; I've
> made some good caramel type of sauce, cheese cake, and Mac and cheese.
> Granted it didn't taste like was I remembering but it wasn't that bad
> either. And thank you everyone for your thoughts and ideas for non dairy
> stuff, it's always helpful to hear what other people are saying!
>
> I do have a question, does anyone know much about the food allergies in
> Chinese food. I've had no luck with getting a clear answer if say General
> Tso's chicken, Egg Rolls, or Orange chicken contain any dairy. I know each
> place is different but as a whole do they usually contain dairy?
>