When it comes to rushing the seasons along retailers are usually the culprit. As the smoke clears from the Fourth of July's firework's, Back To School supplies hit the shelves. And Christmas trappings come soon after. This year Mother Nature decided to rush the seasons with a pre-Halloween blast of winter. When the weather turned chilly my own mother was fond of saying, "The frost is on the pumpkin." This year it truly is. Herewith then World's Fare's Top Seven Winter Soups, spanning the globe from Bolivia to Malaysia and points in between.

Kreplach from Ben's Best, hefty and haimishe.

Sure you could get the excellent matzo ball soup ($5.50), a fluffy Spaldeen-sized specimen floating in a golden sea of chicken broth. Better still is this Rego Park delicatessen's kreplach ($5.50). Several beef and veggie filled dumplings—Jewish ravioli if you will—take the place of the lone matzo ball. It's what my bubbe would have given me to cure a cold during a late fall snowstorm.

Samygyetang, chicken in a pot by way of Korea and China.

Samgyetang, the restorative Korean soup that consists of a small chicken stuffed with ginseng, glutinous rice, garlic cloves, and chestnuts, among other things is a delicious and effective way to combat the cold. It can be had at many Korean restaurants in Flushing. My favorite place to eat it isn't a Korean restaurant though. It's a Chinese one called Han Song Ting whose owner hails from Shenyang, China, where there is a longstanding population of Koreans. The $15 soup is cheaper than a doctor's visit.

Soto ayam, chicken soup Indonesian style.

At Java Village in Elmhurst find Indonesia's answer to chicken soup, soto ayam ($4). The broth has a yellowish hue thanks to plenty of turmeric. It comes with a hard-boiled egg, noodles, and crunchy topping of koya, a mixture of prawn crackers fried with garlic. For extra sinus clearing power add some fiery sambal.

The customizable kari laksa at Curry Leaves.

What's better than a bowl of kari laksa, the chili and coconut milk Malaysian soup? One you can customize with all sorts of add-ins. Show up at Flushing's Curry Leaves between 4 a.m. and 11 .a.m., when it serves typical night market fare, including curry laksa, with your choice of fixins'. The above bowl teeming with fish cake, fried wontons, pork skin, and eggplant will set you back $6.

A bowl of ranga, Bolivian tripe soup.

Cumbre in Woodside has the disticntion of being one of New York City's few Bolivian restaurants. It also serves a hearty bowl of ranga ($11),a mellow tripe and potato soup. Tender bits of tripe bob in an orange broth that gets its color from aji amarillo, a yellow chili also common in Peruvian cuisine. Should you find the ranga wanting in heat just add a bit of vibrant llajua (ya-hoo-ah), a hot sauce made from jalapeños, tomatoes, and quilquina, a Bolivian variety of cilantro.

Uncle Zhou's knife-shaved lamb noodle soup.

Packed with al dente wheat noodles, slippery bean thread, chewy ribbons of dou fu pi (tofu skin), seaweed, and plenty of lamb the yan rou dao xiao mian (lamb knife shaved noodle, $5.75) at Uncle Zhou's in Elmhurst makes for a filling and delicious repast.

Vietnamese beef noodle soup at Phở Bắc

“We cook beef shank bones and meat for four to five hours in a big stock pot,” Bac Nguyen says of the beef noodle soup ($4.35, small; $4.85, medium; $5.25, large) at his restaurant Pho Bac in Elmhurst. That broth is flavored with ginger, clove and, and star anise. Every bowl comes with a plate containing lime, basil leaves, and bean sprouts. Add a generous amount of each before digging in. Bắc’s favorite bowl is the combination Phở #29 “with everything.” Everything includes thinly shaved rare beef that cooks in the broth, chewy bits of tendon, stippled pieces of omosa (tripe), and navel.

It should be noted that the last of these soups is the lightest and is often eaten in summer, and, I suppose, fall. 

Ben's Best Kosher Deli, 96-40 Queens Blvd., Rego Park, 718- 897-1700
Han Song Ting, 37-02 Main St., Flushing, 646-236-0081
Java Village, 86-10 Justice Ave., Elmhurst, 718-205-2166
Curry Leaves, 135-31 40th Rd., Flushing, 718-762-9313
Restaurante Cumbre, 67-03 Woodside Ave., Woodside, 718-476-2200
Uncle Zhou Restaurant, 83-29 Broadway, Elmhurst, 718-393-0888
Phở Bắc, 82-78 Broadway, Elmhurst, 718-639-0000

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Satisfied customers stream out of Curry Leaves.

Flushing’s Chinatown boasts a staggering array of regional Chinese food ranging from Muslim lamb chops to Henanese lamb noodle soup, yet it falls short in one area. Surely such a vibrant community should be able to support a night market like those found in Taiwan and Malaysia. Sadly such a venue does not exist. So when a fellow fresser recently told me Curry Leaves serves a late-night hawker menu from 4 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. my interest was piqued.

At other times of day Curry Leaves is a sit-down establishment with waiter service. For the graveyard-breakfast shift, it’s strictly self-service. Various savory snacks and desserts line the counter. There are oodles of stir-fried noodles in the steam table, but soup is the star. Ask for a bowl and the gal behind the counter offers a choice of three broths: chicken, curry laksa, or seafood—and three noodles rice, flat, or yellow. Combined with various fish cakes, vegetables, shrimp, wontons and other add-ins the possibilities seem endless.

Fish cake, wonton, pork skin, and eggplant
are just some of the items that can be added.

I had intended to show up in the wee small hours of the morning to experience the spectacle of club kids lining up for a late-night snack. Instead I got there at around 7 a.m. On my first visit I had curry laksa with yellow noodles. To that my new friend added fish cake, wonton, pork skin, and eggplant. The broth was rich with coconut and had a nice heat level. Ribbons of slightly chewy pork skin were surprisingly good, functioning as a second noodle of sorts. The wontons, fish cake, and a huge piece of eggplant stuffed with fish paste made for one hearty bowl of soup. As the sweat beaded up on my brow, I began to understand why some folks eat at Curry Leaves to ward off or cure a hangover. The cost for this feast in a bowl was a mere $6.

Crunchy ikan bilis tops a bowl of seafood noodle soup.

I returned for a second visit 20 hours later. At four in the morning there was a table of club kids looking to end their night with meal. There was also a crew of tough-looking dudes who were afforded the privilege of having the man working the cash register serve them their soup. This time around I had the murky seafood broth with shrimp, two types of fish cake, water spinach and yellow noodles. Topping it off was a generous heap of crunchy fried shallots and ikan bilis, or tiny dried anchovies. It was good if a tad too heavy on the fish. Still, not a bad deal for $7.

Pandan gelatin: soothing and sweet.

On both visits I had dessert and iced coffee ($2). Pandan gelatin ($4) is bright green, sweet and soothing, just the thing after a bowl of fiery curry laksa.

Apam balik, a sweet and savory Malaysian flapjack.

On my second visit I had pancakes for dessert. Filled with sweet corn and ground peanuts apam balik ($1.50) is a popular hawker snack in Malaysia. I may have had them for dessert, but apam balik would make a fine breakfast along with a strong cup of coffee.

Flushing may not have a night market, but the late night hawker counter at Curry is the next best thing. I’m planning my next visit already.

Curry Leaves, 135-31 40th Road, Flushing, 718-762-9313

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Beef, pear, cukes and egg/atop fiery mountain/edible AC.

The amount and authenticity of Asian food in Queens is truly amazing. There’s savory Tibetan momo, juicy Shanghainese xiao long bao, Korean barbeque, crisp Indian dosa, Malaysian curry, and loads of regional Chinese, including Sichuan and the seldom-seen cuisine of Qingdao. What’s even more amazing is that the aforementioned are just some of the cuisines that will be represented under one roof at Monday’s Asian Feastival, at the Sheraton Laguardia in Flushing.

In addition to tastes from two dozen restaurants there will be workshops, including a kimchi demonstration by one of my favorite Korean food personalities Maangchi and an Asian farmer’s market. The day ends with me leading a walking tour of 20 Taste Hunters through downtown Flushing.

By now you’re probably drooling and wondering how to win a pair of tickets. It’s simple. Write a haiku like the ode to naeng myun above. All entries must reference Asian cuisine. Extra credit for mentioning both Queens and Asian food. (Bonus points for use of Mandarin, Malaysian, or Korean, just kidding.) The best poem wins the tickets plus a spot on the Taste Hunting tour. Deadline’s Sunday at 5 p.m. Sharpen those pencils and dip those quills kids.

[UPDATED 9/2/2010; 5:45pm] And the winner is .....Sairis who manages to mention three Asian cuisines as well Queens itself! Please email edit@ediblequeens.com and give us your full name so we can leave your tickets at will call! CONGRATULATIONS! And thanks everyone for contributing so many lovely haiku. See you at the Asian Feastival!

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