Might be a dumb question but..

[Shai Koneko]

I'm trying to learn about substitutions in meals and what I can cook and all that jazz. Are soy and soya two different things?

And what is the major difference between soy and rice milk? I heard rice milk has a starchy, thicker taste..

Thanks guys!  

[[Matsuko]]

Yes, soy and soya are the same thing. I think the reason why there are two spellings is because of the pronunciation in Asian languages. In Japanese, we don't say anything very similar to 'soy' or 'soya' when referring to 'soysauce' or 'soybeans', but if we were to write 'soy' in English, it would end up as 'soya'. Maybe in Chinese it's more like soya? Anyways, they're the same thing.

I'm not vegan (so I usually use regular 1% milk), so I wouldn't know about the tastes of soy and rice milk, but a major difference would be the ingredients used in rice and soy milk (rice =/= soy).

Soy milk oftentimes tastes very similar to tofu (unless maybe if there are extra ingredients such as cocoa or honey for flavouring). They are made from the same beans (soy). You can learn more about how soy milk is made and such here.

I would think that rice milk would have a starchier taste, but I've never actually seen it.

Rice milk is usually sweetened with cane sugar (according to wikipedia), which is not vegan.

Another vegan substitute for milk is Almond milk.  

[n8urboy]

Soy milk is a bit thicker and has more nutritional value. All the Amino Acids your body needs. It tastes nothing like Tofu, is usually sweet and flavored with vanilla.

Rice milk is thin and has very little nutritional value, however it is very sweet, and very cheap.

almond milk is expensive and has no real value over soy milk.

In most cooking soy milk is a better option, however is some recipes the acidity in the food prevent the soy milk from mixing well. The most visual example of this would be pouring soy milk into certain fruity teas will make it the soy milk stay separate and pretty much just be clumpy and gross. in such instances rice milk is a better alternative.  

[LETS DO THE MARIO!!]

Raw cane sugar IS vegan, however. smile

I couldn't tell you about rice milk, because I buy Silk plain soymilk, and its good. BTW if you try it, it may taste really bad a first, but after eating it in cereal with fruit for so long I've actually been able to drink it straight for a while now and actually enjoy it. o_O