Every year we host a dinner party for New Years Eve and this year's theme was all fondue (classic cheese, this broth based and a chocolate-raspberry to DIE for). It was really fun. If you have a fondue pot (or chafing dish, or even an electric skillet) dust it off :-). If you don't have access to an asian store where you can buy 'instant' dashi in the 'tea' bags, just use a 3:2 ratio of water to beef broth. For those of you who don't know what dashi is, it's a broth base of seaweed and bonito flakes used in hot pots, pho and other asian soups (at least that's what I've seen it used in, I'm sure there are other uses). I served beef, shrimp, scallops, assorted veggies and 3-4 sauces (go crazy!)
Dashi/Beef scallion hot pot:
2 'tea' bags of dashi
6 cups water
4 cups good quality beef broth
6 garlic cloves finely chopped
2 TB fresh ginger finely chopped
3 scallions chopped (white and green)
2 scallions cut on a diagonal (for presentation)
To serve with the fondue:
Ultra-thin slices of filet mignon or top sirloin (~3 oz p/p)
Large Shrimp (~3 oz p/p)
Scallops (~3 oz p/p)
Mushrooms (I used buttons - they stay on the fork the best, but you could also grill up some portabellos and cut them bite-sized chunks)
Red Peppers (raw - cut in bite-sized chunks)
Broccoli (I blanched my florets)
Zucchini (I left it raw)
To make the broth:
Bring 6 cups of water to a boil then add the dashi tea bags to steep. Remove the bags and add garlic, ginger, scallions, beef broth and S&P to taste - simmer on very low for about 30 minutes to get the flavors to meld. Add to your fondue pot and throw in the diagonally-cut scallions for presentation. Serve the meats, veggies on platters along with the sauces and let everyone go at it.
(If you don't have the dashi - I suggest just adding all the ingredients at once and let simmer - check for taste and add some soy if it's too bland, or up the beef broth to water ratio)
It was really fun - try it! The broth picks up the flavors of all the meats and veggies, so after, we all ladeled the broth into cups and sipped it after the fondue was done - yummy!