KyokushinKarateMan
Train hard, fight easy
Thai restaurant has had the same beef soup simmering for the past 45 years
A restaurant has been selling the same beef soup that has been simmering for the past 45 years.
Chef Nattapong Kaweenuntawong, 40, said his grandfather made the recipe for family then started selling the braised beef and noodle soup in Bangkok, Thailand.
They moved into the shop in the Ekkamai district of the city 45 years ago - and have keep the same soup on the boil every day since.
Nattapong refuses to change the dish and simply adds more water and fresh ingredients every day.
It includes beef, star anise, cinnamon, black peppercorns, garlic and ten kinds of aromatic Chinese herbs.
But the exact composition of the stew has never been written down, so Nattapong has to taste the soup every morning to check it is suitable.
Hundreds of locals visit the shop, called Wattana Panich, every day to eat the beef broth with a bowl of the noodles - a dish which costs 100 baht (2.50 GBP).
Nattapong said: ''We keep the soup because it's easier to add the water the following day and still maintain the same flavour without having to season much. We didn't expect it to last such a long time.''
The soup is made from beef bones and meat stewed for hours each day to extract the sweetness.
They are boiled for four hours until they are tender, then cut into small pieces and stewed for four more hours in the stock before serving. As the soup continues to age, the restaurant’s popularity has grown and now tourists visit for lunch.
Nattapong added: ''I have to taste the soup every day because we don't really have a recipe. It's based on the family'S familiarity with it. We taste and eat it every day so we know how to season it to maintain the same flavour.
''Hopefully, 15 years from now it will become the 60-year-old soup.
''In recent years, tourists from Europe have become interested in our shop. They are welcome to come and try our beef noodle soup and hopefully they will love it.''
