Beef soup simmered 40 years in same Bangkok pot named ‘Essence of Asia’

A man who’s been simmering a beef stew in the same pot for four decades was the only Thai street food vendor honored yesterday with an inaugural “Essence of Asia” award by a global restaurant-ranker.

Tucked inside a double shophouse in the Ekkamai area, Wattana Panich was named in the debut version of an unranked collection of places which “breadth of the region’s gastronomic scene” made by the same Italian bottled water company of “50 Best” fame.

In the run-up to the ninth edition of what was formerly San Pellegrino Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants (Now just Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants), the new list is also meant to recognize those who “reinvent indigenous cuisines and revive centuries-old recipes, all while playing a key role within their communities.”

Thus, Wattana Panich. There, three generations have served countless bowls of beef stew and…