LET THERE BE CHEESE
Fiery Sichuan fondue the best blend of culture and food
AS IMMIGRANTS WITH Chinese heritage, Rosheen Kaul and Joanna Hu spent their formative years living between (at least) two cultures and wondering how they fitted in. Food was a huge part of this journey; should they cling to the traditional comfort of their parents’ varied culinary heritage, attempt to assimilate wholly by learning to love mashed potatoes, or forge a new path where flavour and the freedom to choose trumped authenticity? They went with option three.
Chinese-ish celebrates the confident blending of culture and identity through food — take what you love and reject what doesn’t work for you.
FIERY SICHUAN FONDUE
It’s a well-established fact that plenty of people of east Asian descent suffer from lactose sensitivity, and let’s be honest — fondue isn’t really Chinese in the slightest. So you’re probably wondering why there is a fondue recipe in this cookbook. I’m a touch lactose-intolerant myself, but I reckon this recipe is worth the pain.
It might seem simple, being nothing more than cheese and wine melted together, but fondue splits easily. A well-made fondue should be silky-smooth and remain that way, even when heated. For surefire success every time, add cornflour (cornstarch) to the mix: it stops the proteins in the cheese from coagulating, guaranteeing your fondue stays smooth and silky.
In this recipe, we use beer instead of the traditional highacid white wine. Beer is exactly what I’d be drinking with this dish, as the savouriness pairs beautifully with the cheese. As with all popular Sichuan dishes, this fondue is served under a blaze of vibrant red chilli oil.
If you don’t have a fancy fondue set-up, use a cast-iron skillet or something similar that retains heat, and pop it back on the stove whenever you need to warm it up. Pile the fondue high with fresh herbs and cracked black pepper, then dip anything your heart desires into it. Fondue is traditionally served with cubes of stale bread, pickled onions and cornichons, but anything that would be improved by being dunked in fiery cheese will do.
Just make sure everything is bitesized.
Ingredients
2 Tbsp cornflour
300g Gruyere, grated 300g Comte, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced 300ml lager
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1⁄2 tsp salt
1⁄2 tsp ground white pepper 100ml chilli oil, or use Lao Gan Ma chilli oil
Fresh dill, parsley and chives, roughly chopped Cracked black pepper
To serve
Pickled chillies
Bread, cut into cubes Hot smoked sausages Charcuterie Boiled potatoes
Method
Place the cornflour and cheeses in a bowl and toss to combine. Set aside.
Heat the garlic and lager in a pan over low heat and bring to a simmer. Add a handful of the cheese mixture at a time to the simmering beer and whisk vigorously, ensuring each addition is completely melted and emulsified before adding more.
Once all the cheese has been added and the mixture is thick and smooth, add the lemon juice, salt and white pepper and stir. If the mixture has turned into a blob of melted cheese with some separated liquid, don’t worry. Simply increase the heat and whisk hard to bring it back together.
Transfer the cheese mixture to a fondue pot or cast-iron skillet. Dress liberally with the chilli oil, fresh herbs and cracked black pepper. If the fondue starts to set, simply pop it back on the stove and warm it up over low heat.
Serve the fondue with pickled chillies, bread, smoked sausages, charcuterie and boiled potatoes, for dipping. — Serves 6