Learn how to make the best Tau Foo Fah with homemade soy milk. Silky smooth and soft soybean pudding served with sweet ginger syrup.
At most markets in Malaysia, you’re sure to find at least one vendor selling homemade soymilk and tau foo fah. The soybean pudding is soft, silky and smooth, paired with a gingery syrup. You can have it warm or cold, and it’s delightful either way.
Tau foo fah is traditionally made with GDL, a type of coagulant. I’ve found that agar-agar works well here but you can only serve it cold or at room temperature. Texture-wise, the difference is subtle, though one might notice if you’re particular about tau foo fah. Nevertheless, agar-agar is a more common ingredient to use at home. Since this dessert consists of such few components, the homemade soymilk comes through to make it even better.
If you’d like to read more about the different ways to make this soybean pudding, this blog post by Omnivore’s Cookbook is a great resource.
Notes when making tau foo fah
- If making soy milk to drink, you can add a pinch of salt and sugar to taste to enhance the flavour.
- You can also use store-bought soymilk, it should contain only soybeans and water. It tends to be thinner, so you may need to add more agar-agar.
- Do not cover the heated soymilk + agar-agar mixture immediately, else the condensation will make the tau foo fah watery.
More street food recipes:
- Kuih Keria (Malaysian Sweet Potato Donuts)
- Pulut Tai Tai/Pulut Tekan (Pressed Glutinous Rice Cake w/ Coconut Jam)
- Red Bean Soup 红豆糖水
- Black Sesame Tang Yuan (Chinese Glutinous Rice Balls)
If you made this recipe, do leave a comment and rating below because I love hearing your feedback. Make sure to tag me on Instagram @eatwkriss so that I can see your recreations!
Tau Foo Fah/Dou Hua 豆腐花 (Soybean Pudding)
Ingredients
Soy milk
- 1 cup soybean
- 4 cups water divided
- 2 pandan leaf knotted, optional
Tau foo fah
- 350 g soymilk homemade or store-bought
- ½ tsp agar-agar powder
Ginger syrup
- ¼ cup white/brown sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 4 slices ginger
Instructions
Make soymilk
- Soak soybeans overnight, until they double in size. Pick out any shriveled or black beans.
- Blend the soaked beans with 2 cups of water, until as smooth as possible. Don't worry about little chunks.
- Pour everything into a tall pot and add the other 2 cups of water. Bring it to a simmer, stirring frequently to prevent the bottom from burning. Add a knot of pandan, then let simmer on medium-low heat for 20 minutes.
- Prepare a large bowl, strainer and cheesecloth. Once the soymilk has cooled slightly, strain it to remove the soybean pulp/okara. Keep the okara for later.
Make tau foo fah
- Combine soymilk and agar-agar powder in a small pot and whisk to incorporate. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until it simmers. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Strain the mixture into a medium bowl, making sure to get rid of any bubbles on the surface.
- Let cool completely before covering and refrigerating for 1 hour (I refrigerate mine overnight.)
Make ginger syrup
- In a small pan/pot, combine sugar of your choice, ginger and water. Bring to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes.
- Let cool (optional), before pouring over the soybean pudding.
Notes
- If making soy milk to drink, you can add a pinch of salt and sugar to taste to enhance the flavour.
- You can also use store-bought soymilk, it should contain only soybeans and water. It tends to be thinner, so you may need to add more agar-agar.
- Do not cover the heated soymilk + agar-agar mixture immediately, else the condensation will make the tau foo fah watery.