Bar & Bites: Winter is here and soup's on, we list our 10 favourite broths from around the world

Winter is well and truly here and that means one thing. Footy! OK, two things: footy and soup! Soup’s on, so here are my Top 10 favourite liquid lunches (or dinners), with five Asian and five European rippers to warm the coldest heart. While I love refreshing Spanish gazpacho and adore saltibarsciai, Lithuania’s famous ice-cold lurid pink beetroot soup, this column is dedicated to hot bowls of goodness, some with noodles. Like pineapple on pizza, if you want to throw in croutons or lardons, I’m not going to judge you. FAVOURITE FIVE ASIAN SOUPS Whenever I feel a cold or flu coming on, I head straight to a Vietnamese restaurant for a serve of bun bo hue, a rich and spicy red soup loaded with tender slices of beef and pork, plus rice noodles. Tra Vinh and Thanh Dat in Northbridge do rippers, as do Trang’s and Hu Tieu Viet Long in Girrawheen. Load up with sriracha and fresh chillis to really sweat out those demons. Along with sushi, ramen is Japan’s great export. And while pork ramen (or tonkotsu) is the most popular version of this timeless dish, my favourite is chicken ramen, or tori paitan. It’s lighter and less gelatinous, yet still deeply satisfying. While laksas vary depending on whether you’re slurping a tasty spicy noodle soup from Singapore, Indonesia or Malaysia, I prefer Malay or Penang-style asam laksa which combines coconut milk with the souring asam (or tamarind). Tak Chee House does a cracking seafood one, but you’ll need a lie down afterwards. Thailand’s famed hot and sour tom yum soup never fails. It doesn’t even matter what you put in it, the reinvigorating frisson of flavours will put a spring in your step. Chicken noodle soup cures what ails ya, whether we’re talking about the Chinese classic hainanese or Jewish penicillin. While a good stock is vital for both, spring onion, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and vinegar make the Asian version a real saviour. FIVE EUROPEAN FAVOURITES A slowly simmered split pea and ham soup allows the smoky, hearty flavours from the ham hock as well as the starches from the peas to absorb into the liquid to create an all-time winter winner. Pumpkin soup is another undeniable staple of the cold months. Add parsnip and ginger for a bit of pizzazz. If you’re like me, you’ll load this up with Tabasco and a dollop of sour cream to kick it home. My Italian compagni won’t talk to me again if I don’t mention minestrone, the versatile soup with fragrant broth, loads of veggies plus beans, pasta and sometimes rice. Make it how you like. Thick and creamy, provincial-style seafood bisque is a ripper. And, like all these soups, you don’t have to stick to a recipe — lean into a chunky Portuguese stew (or caldeirada) or New England-style chowder. Seafood and drink it. Last, but not least, we return to chicken soup. You can’t go wrong with the classics. Where European soups differ from their Asian “brothren” is simple: bread. A good pumpkin or pea and ham soup needs a crusty chunk of carbs, preferably smothered in butter or topped with melted cheese, to mop up every last drop.

Bar & Bites: Winter is here and soup's on, we list our 10 favourite broths from around the world

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