Imperial Fondue

Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr 30 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken, cut in bite-size chunks
• 3/4 lb fish fillet, cut in bite-size chunks
• 3/4 lb large shrimp, shelled
• 1/2 head chinese cabbage, coarsely cubed into 2 inch pieces
• 1 bunch fresh spinach, stemmed
• 1 large carrot, sliced
• 2 cups fresh mushrooms (button, shiitake, straw)
• 4 -6 scallions, sliced in 2 inch diagonal lengths
• 1 lb firm tofu, cut in bite-sized cubes (optional)
• 6 eggs, 1 per person (optional)
• 1 lb udon noodles or 1 lb soba noodles or 1 lb cellophane noodle
• freshly steamed rice
• 8 cups dashi or 8 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sake or 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon gingerroot, minced

Recipe

• 1 prepare the chicken, seafood, vegetables, and tofu ahead of time, then refrigerate until needed.
• 2 when ready to eat, arrange all the ingredients attractively on one or more platters and bring to the table.
• 3 arrange the noodles on a separate platter.
• 4 place sauce (s) of choice into suitabably sized bowls.
• 5 combine the dashi or chicken broth, soy sauce, sake or sherry and ginger, in some form of communal cookware that can be placed on the table, for example, an electric wok, stainless steel fondue pot, or mongolian cooker, and bring to the boil.
• 6 to cook, each person dips an ingredient of choice (except the noodles) into the broth, and when done to liking, dips their portion into a sauce and eats it with rice.
• 7 the broth may need topping up, throughout the meal, to replenish the evaporating'fondue'.
• 8 traditionalists poach eggs in the broth after all the other ingredients are eaten, placing the cooked eggs over a final bowl of rice.
• 9 lastly, add the noodles to the remaining broth, cook until tender, then eat as soup.