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‘Souperb’! Asia’s soups no flash in the pan as 6 make world’s best 20 list
- Indonesia’s soto ayam, Vietnam’s beef pho, Myanmar’s mohinga and Japan’s tonkotsu ramen among CNN Travel’s favourite soups
- Fery, 60, has been making soto ayam in the Indonesian city of Medan for 20 years, slurping presidents among his customers
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Soto ayam soup is slurped, munched and thoroughly enjoyed across Indonesia on a daily basis, its chicken and noodles, soft-boiled eggs and abundant spices a source of national pride as well as nutritional deliciousness.
In the Sinar Pagi restaurant in Sumatra’s city of Medan, a 60-year-old man called Fery has been making the soup for 20 years for both regular customers and one-offs, selling around 600 bowls a day on weekends, and maybe more than a million overall.
Even presidents enjoy his culinary creations; former leader Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono savoured a bowl of Fery’s version of the soup, while Joko “Jokowi” Widodo ordered soto to go, apparently eating it in his hotel room.
While the taste buds of two presidents and countless other Indonesians have for a long time been nicely tickled by the piquant broth, many others around the globe might also now give it a try after its inclusion on CNN Travel’s list of the world’s 20 best soups.
Five other soups from Asia were also mentioned: beef pho from Vietnam, China’s Lanzhou beef noodle soup, mohinga from Myanmar, tom yum goong from Thailand and tonkotsu ramen from Japan.
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