Top 100 Asian Soups

Beyran çorbası is a traditional soup originating from Gaziantep, where it's served for breakfast. It consists of rendered lamb fat that's topped with rice and shredded lamb meat. The combination is then cooked with the addition of garlic, pepper paste, and lamb broth. This soup is notorious for its spiciness, making it a pretty unusual way to start the day. If desired, the soup can be served with lemon wedges and fresh Turkish bread on the side.Expand

Yokohama-style ramen or iekei ramen is a Japanese type of ramen originating from the Yokohama area and dating back to 1974. The dish consists of thick noodles and a stock that's a mix of creamy tonkotsu (pork broth) and soy sauce. The toppings include chashu pork, chopped seaweed, leeks, and spinach. There are also optional toppings and condiments such as minced garlic, sesame, preserved vegetables, and black pepper. The name of the dish means home-style ramen, and it was created by a former truck driver called Mr. Yoshimura, who'd opened his own ramen shop in 1974.Expand

Soto Betawi is a hearty beef soup consisting of chunks of meat and offal that are slowly simmered in a coconut milk broth, which is usually enriched with various spices such as lemongrass, turmeric, galangal, kefir lime leaves, and coriander. When served, the soup is accompanied by different condiments that typically include tomatoes, scallions, sweet soy sauce, and emping crackers. Because of its name, it is believed that the dish originated in Jakarta among the Betawi people, and today it is one of the most popular dishes in the city, usually sold at various street stalls, restaurants, or hawker-style establishments. Soto Betawi is traditionally enjoyed with steamed rice and pickled acar on the side.Expand

Tonkotsu is a unique style of ramen consisting of an extremely rich, fatty pork broth, fresh noodles, soft-yolk eggs, and tender pork belly that melts in the mouth. It is so popular and special that it could be a dish of its own, not just a ramen style. The ramen is usually topped with scallions for brightness and vibrancy, bamboo shoots for a crunchy, nutty flavor, nori seaweed for crispness, and sweet corn for an even better flavor. The rich broth is developed by cooking the pork bones for a very long time, until the collagen and fat dissolve, resulting in a unique, creamy texture of the dish. In recent years, it has been quite trendy to add some mayu (burnt sesame or garlic oil) to the dish, giving it an even richer, bolder flavor.Expand

This variety of sinigang - Filipino savory and sour soup - consists of various pork cuts that are simmered along tamarind fruit. Tomatoes, onions, garlic, okra, white radish, water spinach and green long peppers are also commonly used for this soup. There is also a similar dish in Malaysian cuisine called siniggang. A version of the pork sinigang is sinigang na miso, which uses the Japanese seasoning made from fermented rice and barley or soybeans. Nowadays, sinigang mix is available in supermarkets, but enjoying the dish made from scratch represents the full experience.Expand

Tom kha gai is Thailand's delicious national dish coming from the central part of the country and bearing the influence of neighbouring Laos. It is a soup whose name translates to boiled galangal chicken soup, consisting of coconut milk, chicken chunks or shreds, galangal (reddish-brown or pink woody plant related to ginger), lemongrass, garlic, bird's eye chili peppers, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, and shiitake mushrooms. Galangal's peppery, pungent, slightly sour and floral flavors provide an interesting contrast to the creaminess of coconut milk, creating a wonderfully aromatic dish in the process. Tom kha gai is highly nutritious with great medicinal properties, such as the ability to soothe the gastro-intestinal tract. Since the dish is very popular, there are also other versions of the soup - vegetarian, tofu, seafood, and pork tom kha are just some of its varieties. It is traditionally served with rice on the side, garnished with coriander leaves and diced tomatoes.Expand

Lanzhou lamian is a Chinese noodle dish known for its hand-pulled noodles, originating from Lanzhou. "Lamian" translates to "pulled noodles", as the dough is stretched and folded repeatedly by hand to create long, thin noodles with a perfect chewy texture. This technique not only aligns the gluten but also enhances the texture of the noodles. The resulting noodles are cooked in a rich beef broth that is clear and flavorful, without the use of soy sauce, allowing the natural flavors of the ingredients to shine through. Lanzhou lamian is often served with thinly sliced beef and various toppings, and is traditionally garnished with fresh cilantro, chili oil, and slices of white radish, adhering to a visual principle of the "five colors": clear broth, white radish, green cilantro, red chili oil, and yellow noodles. This dish has gained immense popularity across China and is often recognized as one of the country's top noodle dishes. The origins of Lanzhou lamian date back to the Tang Dynasty, with its modern form believed to have been popularized in the early 19th century by a Hui Muslim vendor named Ma Baozi. Today, it is commonly found in numerous noodle shops throughout China, particularly those owned by Hui families who serve halal food.Expand

Sinigang is a sour Filipino soup consisting of sampalok (fruits of the tamarind tree), water spinach, hot peppers, cabbage, broccoli, eggplant, diced tomatoes, sliced onions, ginger, garlic, green beans, fish sauce, and salt. The basic broth usually consists of rice washing, with the addition of a souring agent. Ingredients such as pork, fish, milkfish, shrimp, chicken, or beef may also be added to the soup. Sinigang is traditionally served piping hot as a main dish, with rice as its accompaniment. It's an often seen dish at special occasions such as birthdays or weddings, and over time, as the dish became more popular, there were new variations that used guava or raw mango instead of sampalok, and each region developed their own version of the popular soup. With its sour lightness perfectly matching the harsh tropical heat of the country, sinigang is a unique soup that is a true representative of Filipino cuisine.Expand

Mercimek çorbası is a beloved Turkish soup made with red lentils, chicken stock, onions, and carrots. It is often seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, or paprika. Easy to prepare, filling, and warming, the soup is consumed for breakfast, lunch, or dinner in rural parts of Turkey, especially in local eateries known as lokantas.Expand

Taiwanese version of hot pot is eaten during the winter, and especially on cold and rainy days. It doesn't have a set recipe, but consists of a pot of broth and a variety of ingredients which are cooked in it, then dipped in the accompanying sauce before consumption. The broth can be made from bonito and kombu, Chinese herbs, pickled cabbage, pork bones, milk, miso, or kimchi. The ingredients cooked in it often include root vegetables, tofu, dumplings, fish cakes, fried taro, or thinly sliced meat. Most hot pot restaurants have a condiment bar with sauces and garnishes such as sha cha sauce (barbecue sauce derived from satay), soy sauce, white vinegar, black vinegar, sesame paste, garlic, cilantro, chili peppers, daikon, and sesame seeds. Taiwanese hot pot is a communal affair, with patrons sitting around the pot and each one cooking their own ingredients.Expand