Soups to soothe the soul

The weather has finally cooled down, and it’s easy to combat any chilly, rainy evening with a warm bowl of your favorite soup. Whether you prefer a one-pot recipe with local flavors or want something spicy, there are many different ways to enjoy soup. Check out the following dishes at these neighborhood eateries.

Army

Steve’s Chicks (94-673 Kupuohi St.), located in Kunia Shopping Center, is known for its Korean cuisine — specifically Korean fried chicken — and lively ambiance with K-pop playing throughout the eatery.

The restaurant offers a variety of soups, including clam and tofu kimchi, but its Army stew is especially popular. This stew has a rich history — it was created during the Korean War, when the U.S. Army shared its canned meats with Koreans, who combined Spam, Vienna sausage and bacon with kimchi, garlic and gochujang to make a savory soup. To this day, Army stew is still popular and can be found on many menus in Korean restaurants.

Call 808-680-0005 or visit steveschicks.smartonlineorder.com.

French Onion

La Tour Café (various locations) is known for its wide variety of sandwiches — ranging from banh mi to burgers — salads and, of course, macarons. But the eatery offers two popular soups: tomato basil and French onion. Tomato basil is housemade with fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes, sweet basil and a touch of cream, while the latter is a traditional French onion, served with Gruyere cheese. Both come with a La Tour Bakehouse crostini.

Visit latourcafe.com.

Mushroom

Ireh Restaurant (629 Keeaumoku St.) recently opened in its new location on the ground floor of Azure Ala Moana. The eatery is known for its Korean comfort food with dishes like vegetable bibimbap and braised kalbi with rice.

Ireh is especially famous for its jooks and soups, which come in unique flavors like seafood chlorella jook and perilla soft tofu stew. Perilla — “deulkkae” in Korean — comes from the mint family; research shows consuming it results in improved heart health, among other benefits.

“We purchase our perilla seed powder directly from Korea,” says business owner Esther Kim. “We made the soft tofu version for people who don’t like spicy soft tofu. The traditional soft tofu stew has a red chile paste; for people who don’t like it spicy, we take out the chile paste. We found that in Korea, perilla seeds are becoming popular for its health benefits, so we incorporated it with our soft tofu soup.”

Call 808-943-6000 or follow the biz on Instagram (@ireh_at_azure).

Lobster bisque

Located within Dukes Lane Market & Eatery, Basalt (2255 Kuhio Ave.) offers diners a contemporary yet casual dining experience and features a variety of local flavors.

The restaurant’s lobster bisque has been on the menu since it opened in July 2017. The eatery makes its bisque by starting with a housemade lobster stock that’s simmered for four hours. The stock is triple-strained before the lobster bisque base is made. To make the bisque base, the stock is reduced to concentrated flavors and heavy whipping cream is mixed in. On the day of service, the base is heated, and brandy, cayenne pepper and tomato paste are added before the mixture is thickened with a blond roux. The finished bisque is garnished with crème fraiche and chives.

Call 808-923-5689 or go online to basaltwaikiki.com.

Spicy tofu

Waikiki-based Seoul Tofu House (2299 Kuhio Ave.) is known for its barbecue dishes and healthy Korean tofu soup. Soondubu (soft tofu soup) comes in various flavors, ranging from pork and seafood to beef, ham and cheese, and kimchi. The traditional spicy soft tofu soup is made from beef broth that’s served in a hot stone pot. After you pick your soondubu, choose your spice level, toppings and add extra dishes (optional) like Korean pancakes or noodles.

Show your state ID to get a 10% kamaaina discount.

Call 808-376-0018 or follow the business on Instagram (@seoul_tofu_waikiki).

Oxtail

Oxtail soup is a local favorite on Liliha Bakery’s (various locations) menu. It’s garnished with cilantro, green onions and minced ginger, and served with rice and a butter roll.

“We make about 500 pounds of oxtail soup per week,” says Connie Wong, Liliha Bakery marketing lead. “It generally takes our kitchen staff about five hours to cook our oxtail soup. It has easily become one of our most popular dishes. We sell approximately seven bowls of oxtail soup per hour across all of our locations.”

Visit lilihabakery.com.

Portuguese bean

It’s easy to soup-up your order at Zippy’s Restaurants (various locations). The eatery’s Portuguese bean soup is local comfort food, as it features a tasty broth loaded with vegetables, kidney beans, pasta and chunks of Portuguese sausage. The latter is a slightly sweet, slightly spicy pork sausage that gives the soup the perfect amount of meatiness.

Visit zippys.com.

Wonton

Fun Station, located within Market City Shopping Center (2919 Kapiolani Blvd.) is known for its “fun” noodle dishes, and its menu includes several delicious soups. The base for a bowl of its hearty beef brisket with wonton soup is a flavorful pork bone and chicken broth with no MSG, choice of look fun, egg noodles or rice noodles (look fun is the most popular), combined with choy sum, tender beef brisket, a fried egg bomb and housemade wontons with shrimp, dried shrimp, ground pork, chopped green onions and tobiko filling.

Call 808-773-7367 or follow the biz on Instagram (@funstationhawaii).