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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.''

https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=a3Nvg_1574943665

Same case in Japan.
They do it for the sauce for Yakitori and Unagi.
The older the souce, the more value and taste, as they say.

My older brother was a cook in the army about the year 1950 - 52 and their cooking was the same. He said they changed the menu every so often by adding a extra carrot or potato .

Believe me the story about the 45 years old soup or gravy in this restaurant is over hyped went there 2 times. There are many better tasing beef noodles around

Taste is subgective. Restaurants in Thailand come and go at an alarming speed. If the food was not at least good there would be no chance of the restaurant open 45 years period. I am sure it does not have a Michelin star but they must be doing something right however I have canceled my planned trip for New Years dinner there on your recommendations.

My family had a pot of soup on the old coal burning stove from just before WWI until the end of WWII. Great grandma's soup added to daily. A lot of kids, was an easy way to keep them all fed with fresh bread for dipping.