I love soupy stuff. Stuff like prawn noodles, yong tau foo, fishhead beehoon and the works. There’s just something warm and fuzzy about tugging into a pipping hot bowl of soupy hawker fare on a cold day. It works especially well too with all these 28-days-later-like influenza pandemic going around.

There’s this place to satisfy such cravings, located in the heart of Bedok where all the action is. Here inside the Bedok Food Centre beside the bus interchange, rows and rows of foodstalls packed side by side with an immense lineup to choose and pick from. One can’t help but feel the agony and dilemma of wasting time on food that cannot make it. One handy trick I’ll usually employ during such times of uncertainty is by walking round, taking a quick browse at the tables to see what everybody else is having. Somewhat akin to browsing the weekly billboard ranking to see whats currently up to the mark. Soon enough, you’ll realized that you’ve wandered into a corner where folks at almost every table slurping noodles from green melamine bowls. That a clear indication that we’ve loitered into the domain of the famous Soto Ayam shrine, Inspirasi Stall.

Soto Ayam, a local malay fare (originating from Indonesia by Javanese migrants) consist of compressed rice cakes (ketupat or buras), bean sprouts, bergerdil (potato and fish cutlet), shredded chicken and an extremely hearty consommé. Another subset, Mee Soto, is prepared by merely substituting the ketupat rice cubes with yellow noodles. Unknown to many folks, there are actually many variations of soto which differs in the kind of meat used to compose the stock and in Indonesia, its not uncommon find Soto Daging (beef) and Soto Lamongan (chicken and offal) at their street stalls.

Inspirasi has been serving out Soto Ayam for as long as I can remember and what has not changed after so many years is their generous serving of ingredients. For just $2, I dont know where else can you get such a big bowl of great tasting Soto Ayam. Queuing is inevitable if you come by during standard meal times but if its not the Hello Kitty kinda queue, it’s not gonna kill you. Presented in a non-descript bowl, the aroma of cumin is distinct. With luscious chicken shreds placed on top the neatly sliced ketupat covered in yellowish semi clear soup with a piece of bergerdil and a dash of chilli sauce by the side, garnished with coriander leaves and fried crispy shallots …… (I needed to buy time and wipe my saliva for folks wondering what the extra dots were all about). The soto stock (made with chicken, cumin seeds, turmeric plus a host of other spices) by itself was very flavourful but mixed with the soften bergidil and it brings the dish to a whole new level, from the taste to the texture. Very fragrant and balanced tasting stock not heavily encumbered by the many spices used with an authentic chilli to boot. Taste wise, what they have here is beyond the charts and you’ve gotta try it to know what’s going on.

The Soto at Inspirasi is a sure shot without a shadow of doubt and you wont wanna miss it if you’re round the corner. To avoid a boxing competition in the middle of Bedok, its my responsibility to inform readers that their Soto Ayam usually sells out before dinner and only serves Mee Soto there after.

-Darth Sidtoh