Chinese Fondue Sauces
- Preparation 5 min
- Refrigeration 30 min
- Cooking 8 min
- Servings 10 to 12
- Freezing I do not suggest
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🥣 Seven sauces for your Chinese fondue
Six come together in a bowl: you measure, you mix, done. The longest part is grating the orange zest. The seventh, the devil sauce, spends a few minutes in a saucepan.
The first six start from mayonnaise and split right after. One goes toward honey and Dijon mustard. Another toward ketchup and smoked paprika. A third toward orange and heat. Then curry and shallot, honey and garlic, and the Burgundy with its red wine vinegar. The devil sauce is red, ketchup-based.
🍲 Chinese fondue is a long supper
At our place it’s the holiday meal. The one where nobody leaves the table for two hours. People talk, dip, talk some more, dip again.
That’s exactly why the sauces matter as much as the broth. A good broth gives you the base flavour, but the sauces are what keep the twentieth bite from tasting like the first. I make them all.
🎯 Which one goes with what
Honey mustard with the beef is unreal. It’s the one that empties first every single time, and I go back for thirds without any shame.
Ketchup and smoked paprika is the kids’ one, and the one for anybody who finds the rest too sharp. Orange and Sriracha wakes up shrimp and anything from the sea. Nobody ever announces the curry one, and the ramekin still comes back empty.
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🥣 Half a cup of mayonnaise, six directions
You can make all six in the same bowl if you wash it between each one. I take out six instead. It’s faster, and it keeps a leftover streak of Sriracha out of the curry.
🍯 Honey mustard, and it isn’t close
It’s my favourite and I’m not going to pretend otherwise. With beef, nothing touches it. The honey rounds off the fat in the mayonnaise, the Dijon cuts back through it, and you end up with something sweet that bites just enough to make you go again.
If you only make one, make that one.
🌶️ Smoked paprika is not regular paprika
Two jars that look alike, two flavours with nothing in common. Sweet paprika only adds colour. The smoked one brings a campfire smell that carries through the ketchup and the mayonnaise. Grab the wrong jar and you get a pink mayonnaise with nothing to say.
🍊 Zest before juice
Silly order, but it matters. You grate the zest off a dry, whole orange, then you cut it and squeeze it. Do it the other way around and you’re rasping a soft, wet orange that tears instead of shaving.
Take the orange part only. The white underneath is bitter, and in a mayonnaise-based sauce there’s no fixing that.
🍛 The curry one needs a little time
It’s the sauce I build first, because it’s the one that gains the most from waiting. The finely chopped French shallot has to soften in the mayonnaise, and the curry powder needs twenty or thirty minutes to open up.
Taste it right after mixing and it’s powdery, with a sharp shallot bite. Taste it half an hour later and it’s a different sauce.
📅 Make them ahead
All six mayonnaise ones can be made the day before, no problem. That’s what I do when we have people over, because a fondue night already has plenty of cutting and setting up.
In the fridge, in sealed containers, they keep two to three days. Pull them out about fifteen minutes before serving. A sauce straight out of the fridge tastes like very little.
None of them freeze. Mayonnaise separates on thawing and you end up with oil on one side and paste on the other. There’s nothing to be done with that.
🧄 Honey garlic sauce, a day ahead
Raw garlic gets stronger as it sits: if you make it the day before, start with a single clove.
✅ What do I serve these fondue sauces with?
With Chinese fondue, obviously, and that’s where the real work happens in the broth. I have three that are worth it: the Trois-Pistoles beer fondue broth, the fondue broth with Eau Bénite beer, and the classic fondue broth with beer and red wine. Pick your broth, set out the seven sauces, and your meal is built.
They’re not limited to that. Homemade fries, chicken wings, raw vegetables, a sandwich that needs help. The ketchup and smoked paprika one is dangerous on a french fry.
And if you want an eighth sauce out of the same supper, go see my fondue sauce with Maudite beer.
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Mustard and honey mayo
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) honey
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) Dijon mustard
Ketchup and smoked paprika mayo
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) ketchup
- 1 1/2 teaspoon (7.5 ml) smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) Italian spices
Orange and Sriracha mayo
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) mayonnaise
- Finely grated zest of 1/2 orange
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) grain mustard
- 1 1/2 teaspoon (7.5 ml) Sriracha
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) honey
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) Provence herbs
Curry mayo
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) curry powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon (7.5 ml) finely chopped French shallot
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) honey
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) dried thyme
Honey garlic sauce
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) honey
- 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) paprika
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) lemon juice (optional, to cut the sweetness)
Burgundy sauce
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) ketchup
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) finely chopped French shallot
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) dried thyme
Devil sauce
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) butter
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) ketchup
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) chili sauce (the red tomato-based condiment, not Asian chili sauce)
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) Sriracha, or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) cornstarch
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) cold water
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Preparation
- Mustard and honey mayo: in a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, the honey and the Dijon mustard. Season with salt and pepper.
- Ketchup and smoked paprika mayo: in a second bowl, mix the mayonnaise, the ketchup, the smoked paprika and the Italian spices. Season with salt and pepper.
- Orange and Sriracha mayo: in a third bowl, mix the mayonnaise, the orange zest and juice, the grain mustard, the Sriracha, the honey and the Provence herbs. Season with salt and pepper.
- Curry mayo: in a fourth bowl, mix the mayonnaise, the curry powder, the French shallot, the honey and the thyme. Season with salt and pepper.
- Honey garlic sauce: in a fifth bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, the honey, the garlic, the paprika and the lemon juice, if using. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes so the garlic blends into the sauce, then taste and adjust the honey.
- Burgundy sauce: in a sixth bowl, mix the mayonnaise, the ketchup, the red wine vinegar, the Dijon mustard, the French shallot, the parsley and the thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Devil sauce:
1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and cook the onion and garlic for 4 to 5 minutes, until softened, without browning.
2. Dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water.
3. Add the ketchup, the chili sauce, the brown sugar, the cider vinegar, the Worcestershire sauce, the Dijon mustard, the Sriracha and the dissolved cornstarch to the saucepan.
4. Bring to a boil, stirring, then simmer over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
5. Let cool completely and serve cold. - Serve all seven sauces together, with the fondue.
For Chinese fondue, dipping sauces do the heavy lifting: six built on mayonnaise and one cooked devil sauce. The seven here cover the whole meal without repeating themselves: honey mustard, ketchup and smoked paprika, orange and Sriracha, curry, honey garlic, Burgundy and devil sauce. Each one pulls in a different direction. Honey mustard is the one that disappears first with beef.
Chinese fondue is thin slices of raw beef, chicken, pork or shrimp that each person cooks at the table in a pot of simmering broth. The broth is the base, and everybody dips their cooked bite into a sauce afterward. It has nothing to do with cheese or chocolate fondue, which sit in a completely different meal.
Figure half a cup per person, all sauces combined. The recipe gives you roughly three quarters of a cup per mayonnaise sauce and a little more for the devil sauce, so close to six cups in all, enough for ten to twelve people. For a table of four to six, make half, or pick your three or four favorites.
Yes, and that’s what I do. Mix them the day before, cover, refrigerate. They keep two to three days. The curry one is actually better the next day, once the shallot has softened. Take them out about fifteen minutes before you sit down. Don’t freeze them though, mayonnaise separates and there’s no coming back from it.
Homemade fries first, and the ketchup and smoked paprika one is the obvious pick there. Chicken wings, raw vegetables, cold shrimp, a burger that needs something. The honey mustard works on a chicken sandwich the same way it works on beef. A bowl left over from fondue night keeps earning its place for a couple of days.
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