Main / Soup
12 viral, validated main / soup recipes — each tested by a named editor in a real kitchen.
-
Pozole Rojo — Mexican Hominy & Pork Soup
Mexico's great celebration soup: tender pork and plump hominy simmered in a deep red broth of dried guajillo and ancho chillies, then loaded at the table with crisp shredded cabbage, radish, onion, oregano and lime. Centuries old and endlessly comforting — a pot of pozole means a party.
-
Bún Bò Huế — Spicy Hue Beef Noodle Soup
The fiery cousin of phở from the old imperial city of Huế: a deep beef-and-pork broth perfumed with lemongrass, stained red with annatto and chilli, and given its soul by a spoonful of fermented shrimp paste. Served with thick round rice noodles, tender beef shank and a mountain of fresh herbs — bolder, spicier and more complex than phở.
-
Sundubu-jjigae — Korean Soft Tofu Stew
The bubbling Korean comfort classic: silky uncurdled tofu in a fiery red broth built on a gochugaru chilli oil, with clams or pork, kimchi and a raw egg cracked in at the table. It arrives spitting hot in a stone ttukbaegi and cooks the egg as you serve it — a fast, soul-warming one-pot meal with rice.
-
Khao Soi — Northern Thai Curry Noodle Soup
Chiang Mai's signature bowl: silky egg noodles in a rich, golden coconut-curry broth, topped with a tangle of crisp fried noodles and tender chicken. You finish it yourself with lime, shallot, pickled mustard greens and chilli — a glorious play of creamy and crunchy, rich and sharp, with Burmese roots and northern Thai soul.
-
Tonkotsu Ramen — Rich Pork Bone Ramen
The rich, milky-white ramen of Fukuoka: pork bones boiled hard for hours until the broth turns opaque, collagen-thick and deeply savoury. Served with springy thin noodles, melting chāshū pork, a jammy marinated egg and a tare seasoning base. It's a project — but a bowl of real tonkotsu is one of the great pleasures of the noodle world.
-
Kimchi-jjigae — Korean Kimchi Stew
The everyday Korean stew that turns a jar of well-fermented kimchi into dinner: tangy, spicy kimchi simmered with pork belly and tofu into a deep, comforting red broth. The secret is sour, mature kimchi — the more fermented, the better the stew. Served bubbling with a bowl of rice, it's the taste of a Korean home kitchen.
-
Bouillabaisse — Provençal Fish Stew
Marseille's legendary fish stew: a fragrant broth built on fennel, tomato, saffron and orange zest, in which a mix of fish (and often shellfish) is gently poached. Traditionally served in two courses — the saffron broth with rouille-topped croutons first, then the fish — it began as a fishermen's dish made from the day's unsold catch, and became a glory of Provençal cooking.
-
Soto Ayam — Indonesian Turmeric Chicken Soup
Indonesia's golden comfort soup: a clear chicken broth fragrant with turmeric, lemongrass and ginger, ladled over rice vermicelli, shredded chicken, boiled egg and bean sprouts, then showered with fried shallots, celery and a squeeze of lime. Every region has its own version; this is the bright, aromatic clear-broth soto ayam, served with sambal and crackers.
-
Wonton Noodle Soup — Cantonese Wonton Mein
The Cantonese classic of Hong Kong's noodle shops: plump prawn-and-pork wontons and springy thin egg noodles in a clear, savoury broth, finished with a few leaves of yu choy and a drizzle of sesame oil. Delicate and comforting, it lives on three things — juicy wontons, bouncy noodles and a clean, deeply savoury broth.
-
Bún Riêu — Vietnamese Crab & Tomato Noodle Soup
A tangy, savoury Vietnamese noodle soup built on a freshwater-crab-and-tomato broth, with clouds of a fluffy crab-and-pork-paste 'riêu' floating on top. Soured lightly and finished with shrimp paste, it's served over rice vermicelli with tofu, tomato and a big plate of herbs. Bright, light and deeply savoury — a beloved everyday bowl across Vietnam.
-
Pozole Rojo — Mexican Hominy & Pork Soup
Mexico's great celebration soup: a deep red, chile-rich pork broth swimming with nubbly hominy corn, simmered for hours and brought to life at the table with a riot of crunchy garnishes — shredded cabbage, radish, onion, lime, oregano and crisp tostadas. Pozole rojo is fiesta food, served at birthdays, holidays and Mexican Independence Day, where the build-your-own bowl is half the joy.
-
Sinigang — Filipino Sour Tamarind Soup
The Philippines' beloved sour soup: pork (or shrimp, fish or beef) simmered in a broth made mouth-puckeringly tangy with tamarind, loaded with vegetables like water spinach, radish, eggplant and long beans. Sinigang is comforting, savoury and bracingly sour — the national craving on a rainy day — and the level of asim (sourness) is a matter of fierce personal pride, eaten with plenty of steamed rice and a saucer of fish sauce.