This is a very novel way to prepare food especially if your entertaining. Everyone can relax and talk while having fun cooking the food at the table. I have listed the original recipe below but you will see from my photos that I did beef, chicken, salmon, perch and prawns for the meat. One of the things I love about this is you can do whatever you like and do what ever dips you want and as many or as few as you like. I did loads which made it even more fun trying which ones went the best with each different meat of fish. I also just added the spinach and cabbage into the broth as the pan was quite a large capacity. I cooked the noodles on the stove top and then put them in a bowl on the table, which we just kept adding to the pot to warm them through for about a minute. If you would like to view the original recipe please click here.

Ingredients

5-6 Ounces chicken breasts
1 lb Red snapper fillet
1/2 lb Large raw shrimp
1/2 lb Napa cabbage (Chinese Cabbage)
1 Bunch spinach
1/4 lb Bean thread noodles (dried vermicelli)
4 Cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
2 Cups water
1 Tablespoon chinese rice wine or dry sherry
2 Slices ginger
1 Green onion

Suggested Dips

Dark soy sauce
Light soy sauce
Ketjap Manis
Sesame paste
Fermented bean curd (mashed)
Chili oil
Rice vinegar
Hoisin sauce
Bearnaise
Cocktail
Garlic Aoli

Method

1. Cut the chicken and red snapper filets into thin slices. Rinse the shrimp under warm running water and cut in half lengthwise.

2. Wash and shred the Napa cabbage and spinach. Soak the bean thread noodles in hot water until softened.

3. Place the sliced chicken, shrimp, red snapper and the shredded vegetables on separate platters on the table. Place the dipping sauces on the table in small individual bowls. Make sure each guest has a complete place setting, including a dipping fork (color-coded if possible) and a small bowl for placing the cooked food.

4. On the stove, bring the broth and water with the rice wine to a boil, and add the ginger and green onion. Transfer enough broth to the fondue pot or hot pot so that the pot is approximately 2/3 – 3/4 full. (How much broth you need will depend on the size of the pot). Place the pot on the burner, and keep it simmering throughout the meal. Keep the remaining broth warming on the stovetop.

5. To serve, invite guests to spear the food with a dipping fork and cook briefly in the broth until cooked, then dip the cooked food in the sauces as desired.

6. Use a dipping basket to cook the vegetables in batches in the hot broth and ladle out into the soup bowls.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.