Fondue Chinoise Recipe (Meat Fondue)

🥩 How much meat per person?

Plan on 150 to 200 g of meat per person, depending on your crowd’s appetite. I count generously, at 200 g, and there are always leftovers anyway. For 6 people, that’s about 1.2 kg total, counting the shrimp and scallops. If you have big eaters at the table, or you want leftovers for the next day, go a little higher. Better to have too much than to see empty plates at 8 o’clock.

🦌 Which meat to choose?

Beef, pork, chicken, shrimp and scallops are my classic lineup. In Quebec, fondue meat is sold already sliced at the grocery store, so there’s no need to fuss with a knife. And now you can find all kinds of meat sliced for fondue: elk, venison, bison, ostrich, even horse. Try a new one every time, it’s really good and it gets people talking around the table.

🥦 The vegetables

At our house, it’s broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and onion wedges, plus little baby potatoes that are already cooked. Cut your florets small enough to stay on the fork and cook in two or three minutes. Cook the potatoes ahead in water: they just need to warm up in the broth. The mushrooms soak up the broth like a sponge, and that’s the best part.

🍲 Which broth to choose?

My favorite is the one in this recipe, my fondue broth with beer and red wine. If you want a change, try my dark beer fondue broth, rounder and deeper, or my blonde beer fondue broth, lighter. Whichever you pick, season it generously: a bland broth makes bland meat. Taste it before it goes to the table, and add salt until it tastes almost a little too salty on its own.

💧 When the broth gets low

Over the evening, the broth evaporates and the meat drinks a little with every bite. Keep hot chicken broth in a small saucepan on the stove, and top up the pot as soon as the level drops. Pour it in hot, never cold: cold broth stops the cooking and everyone ends up waiting in front of the pot. For 6, my broth recipe plus a liter of chicken broth does the job for the whole night.

🥫 How many sauces?

Three sauces is perfect: one garlicky, one a little sweet and one with some heat, so everyone can switch flavors from one bite to the next. You’ll find my recipes in my Chinese fondue sauces and my Chinese fondue sauce with beer. Serve them in little bowls or ramekins, or on a divided plate, so the sauces don’t run together. Make them the day before, they only get better in the fridge.

🍴 Two forks and two plates

At our house, that’s the rule, and nobody wants to get sick. The fondue fork is only for cooking the raw meat, and you eat with your regular fork. Same thing for plates: raw meat stays on the serving plates and never touches your own plate. Take the raw meat out of the fridge in small batches, so it never sits on the table for more than two hours.

🔥 The burner and the pot

I use my gas camping stove, and I think it’s perfect because it keeps the broth nicely simmering. A set with a gel burner or an electric fondue pot does the job just as well, use whichever you like. If you have a gel burner, keep an extra canister on hand, a fondue lasts a long time. With more than 6 people, bring out a second pot so everyone has room for their forks.

🥖 What to serve with fondue chinoise?

At our house, it’s a baguette, cut into pieces and set right on the table. It soaks up the sauces and the broth. If you want to do a little more, rice or a good green salad go great on the side. No need to go overboard: fondue is already a feast, and everyone eats for hours. Keep a second baguette in reserve, because the first one always disappears before the meat does.

🍜 The end-of-night soup

Whatever you do, don’t toss your broth! After all the meat and vegetables that cooked in it, it tastes incredible. Add noodles or rice right into the pot, let them cook, and serve it in bowls. It’s an amazing soup, and it’s often everyone’s favorite part of the night. If there’s still some left, keep it in the fridge for another soup in the next few days.

🥡 Leftover meat

There’s always leftover fondue meat, and that’s good news. Stir-fry it the next day in a very hot pan with vegetables and a little soy sauce, like in my express stir-fry with Asian vegetables. Or stir-fry it with bell peppers and tuck it into a grilled cheese or a sandwich. Cook it the next day, don’t wait. Cook it all the way through, since it was raw fondue meat.

❄️ Storage

Leftover broth keeps 3 to 5 days in the fridge in a closed container, and it freezes really well for your next fondue or a soup. Bring it to a boil before using it again. Raw meat that never went out on the table keeps in the fridge until the next day. Meat that sat at room temperature for more than two hours, though, doesn’t keep. When in doubt, throw it out.

📅 Make-ahead prep

The day before, make your broth and keep it in the fridge, make your sauces, cut your vegetables and cook your baby potatoes. Store everything in labeled containers. On the day, all you have to do is reheat the broth, set out the meat plates and light the burner. That way, when your people arrive, you’re sitting with them instead of stuck in the kitchen.

✅ What to serve with my fondue chinoise recipe

Start with my fondue broth with beer and red wine, then make my Chinese fondue sauces and my Chinese fondue sauce with beer. Next time, try my dark beer fondue broth or my blonde beer fondue broth, and pick the one your crowd likes best.