One of my favourite meals that I try to serve every year is Fondue Chinoise! What makes this meal so special is that everyone takes their time eating it, leaving more time for conversation. (Depending on your guests, I guess this could be a good or a bad thing!) Although very popular in Switzerland as a Christmas dinner, this fondue extraordinaire actually originated I am quite certain in the Far East. I have many a memory of sitting along the sea in Kota Kinabalu on the island of Borneo, in one of my favourite local restaurants, perspiring like a madwoman as I consumed the local catch-of-the-day. The perspiration was due partly to the high temperature and humidity, but mostly because the soup stock I chose was Thom yum (one of my all-time favourites). Thom yum is a spicy lemon grass/lime-leaf based soup, which is a staple food consumed in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand.

Getting back to the Swiss version: the stock should be either chicken or beef. You’ll need one or more fondue pots, depending on the number of guests. I suggest one pot for 4 to 5 people. I prepare platters of thinly sliced chicken, beef, veal, and if you so desire fish (cod works well; you can also use prawns). Just as in an ordinary fondue, skewers are used to cook the meat in the broth.

But the brilliance is actually all in the sauce (and of course, the quality of the produce you purchase). The following are my suggested sauce recipes for dipping your meat into….

Before I begin with the sauces, let’s get the fondue pot brewing. You must add water to the fondue pot, filling the pot to around the 3/4 mark. It is best to add a few bouillon cubes or powder of either chicken or beef, whatever your preference. The soup stock will come to life as the fondue progresses. As you cook the meat, it continues to flavour the broth. This is all you need to do to prepare the fondue for cooking the meats.

Now on to the sauces! You can always cheat and use a good quality mayonnaise as your base. However, I suggest putting a bit more effort into the preparation and trying to make your own mayonnaise base. Here’s how:

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks
sunflower oil
sour cream
whipped cream

*These 4 ingredients, when mixed properly, will create mayonnaise. There is no exact formula; it is a matter of trial and error to get the right consistency.

Start by whipping the egg yolks with a fork, and then slowly begin adding little drops of oil. You are working towards an emulsion. You can add more oil as you go along, to get the right consistency. Add in 3 to 5 heaping tablespoons of sour cream. Once the egg yolk, oil, and sour cream are added together, you then add the whipped cream at the end. You should add half the amount of whipped cream to end up with half the mixture consisting of the egg yolk, oil, and sour cream, and the other half whipped cream. The whipped cream makes the sauce light. Add a little salt to taste. You now have the foundation for the sauce, and you build from here. The above ingredient amounts are for one sauce. You must repeat the recipe for each sauce you produce.

You can add any of the following ingredients to give the sauces their individual flavours, depending on your preferred taste:

Capers and parsley
Mustard and lemon
Garlic and pepper
Curry powder (can also add a pureed banana)
Ketchup and Tabasco
Tomatoes and basil (blanch tomato and remove skin and seeds)
Wasabi
It is best to offer 3 or 4 sauces. Once the meat is cooked, you simply dip it into the sauce and enjoy!

Once all the meat is consumed, you can add glass noodles, which cook within one minute. After the glass noodles have been eaten, you can add some port and freshly ground pepper to the remaining juices, and sip the broth at the end.

You don’t need a great deal more to complete this meal. If you so choose, you can serve the fondue with French bread and a mixed green salad on the side.