Chinese fondue broth with beer and red wine
- Preparation 10 min
- Cooking 20 min
- Servings 10 cups (2.4 L)
- Freezing Absolutely
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🍷 The broth I make when I want to impress
I’ve got nothing against boxed broth. On a weeknight, it does the job just fine.
But when I want to impress, or when I’ve got friends over, I make a real fondue broth with beer and red wine. It’s absolutely delicious. The flavour is on another level, and you can tell from the very first dip.
🍺 Beer and red wine: each one brings its own thing
Why both in the same pot? Because they don’t do the same job. The red wine brings depth and body, a fuller, bolder side. The red ale brings a more caramelized flavour and a little hop backbone. Worcestershire sauce, thyme and bay leaves take care of the rest.
No need to open a fancy bottle. A medium-bodied red with a bit of kick is all it takes.
🥩 Ten minutes of prep and fondue night is on
Onion, garlic, a drizzle of oil, everything else into the pot and fifteen minutes of simmering. This fondue broth recipe makes about 2.4 litres, which is a lot, since people rarely drink it. So there’s usually some left, and the next day it turns into soup. Grab your Chinese fondue sauces, slice your meat, and have a great night. Tchin mon gars!
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📅 Make it ahead
Yes, and it makes the evening a lot more relaxed. Make the broth in the morning or the day before, let it cool, then refrigerate it in a covered container. When it’s time to eat, bring it back to a boil in the saucepan before pouring it into the fondue pot. Guests show up, everything’s ready, and all that’s left is slicing the meat.
🍷 Which wine and which beer
For the wine, a medium-bodied red. Not a cabernet sauvignon, but still something with some kick and real flavour.
For the beer, a red ale. Can’t find one? Any amber beer will do. Skip very hoppy IPAs: as the broth simmers, the bitterness concentrates and takes over.
🧂 Broth too salty?
It happens fast. Store-bought beef broth is already salted, and the recipe tells you to season generously. So taste before you add salt, not after.
If it’s too late, the only real fix is to dilute it: hot water or unsalted broth, one cup at a time, tasting as you go. Forget the raw potato trick, it soaks up liquid, not much salt.
And keep this in mind during the meal: the broth reduces in the fondue pot, so it gets saltier as the night goes on. Keep a small pot of hot water or broth on the stove and top up as needed.
🐔 Can you use chicken broth?
You can make it with chicken broth. But with the dark beer and red wine, the chicken flavour pretty much disappears. If chicken is what you want to taste, go with my chicken broth Chinese fondue broth instead, it’s built for that.
🍜 Leftovers make soup the next day
Absolutely. After a night of fondue, the broth has picked up the flavour of every piece of meat cooked in it. Strain it, bring it back to a boil, and add vegetables or noodles. In the fridge, 3 to 4 days, no more.
❄️ Freezing
It freezes really well, up to 3 months.
✅ What to serve with my Chinese fondue broth?
Sauces, and more than one. My Chinese fondue sauces give you four at once, and my Chinese fondue sauce with beer adds a touch of bitterness the others don’t have. If you do fondue often and want to switch broths from one time to the next, try my dark beer Chinese fondue broth, with carrots, celery and tomato paste, or my chicken broth Chinese fondue broth with ginger and leek.
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Ingredients
- ½ red onion, cut into large chunks
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- Olive oil
- 1.8 L (about 7 ½ cups) beef broth
- 1 cup (250 ml) medium-bodied red wine
- 1 bottle (355 ml) red ale, or another amber beer
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp (2.5 ml) dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
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Preparation
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, then drizzle generously with olive oil. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, then season generously with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce to medium heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning: this broth is better on the salty side!
- Dipping ideas: grilled halloumi, broccoli, mushrooms, Le Fin Renard cheese, bison, venison, beef, pork, chicken, cat, leopard.
For this one, beef broth, boosted with red wine, red ale and Worcestershire sauce. Chicken broth works too, but with dark beer and red wine in the pot, the chicken flavour mostly disappears. If you want a lighter, chicken-forward broth, my chicken broth fondue broth is the better pick.
Soften half a red onion and four garlic cloves in a drizzle of olive oil for 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1.8 L of beef broth, a cup of red wine, a bottle of red ale, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil and simmer 15 minutes. That’s it.
Give it more than broth. Red wine adds depth and body, the red ale brings caramel notes and a bit of hops, and Worcestershire rounds it all out. Then don’t be shy with the salt: this broth is better on the salty side. Taste and adjust right before it goes to the table.
Broth, for me. No hot oil spitting across the table, the meat stays tender instead of frying, and the broth keeps getting better as the meat cooks in it. Plus there’s a bonus oil will never give you: leftover broth turns into soup the next day.
Yes. You can use non-alcoholic beer and non-alcoholic wine, but the flavour will likely be different. Honestly, the beer and red wine combo is what makes this broth.
Saison is the beer for Chinese fondue. Dry, sparkling and peppery from the yeast, it rinses the salt of the broth between bites and follows the garlic and heat of the little sauces without ever stepping in front of thinly sliced meat. Its light body carries the full two hours of the meal, right through to the broth at the end.
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