The humble bean curd is found everywhere in Malaysia and Singapore, but only in Ipoh do people say it is a Must Eat for visitors. No where in Malaysia and Singapore can you find bean curd as smooth and as aromatic as those in Ipoh. (I am not sure how Ipoh bean curd compares with the best in Guangzhou China.)
Soy bean curd is known as tau fu fa 豆腐花 in Cantonese, which is the lingua franca of Ipoh Chinese. The unique qualities of spring water in Ipoh is widely touted as the (open) secret behind for the special softness of Ipoh bean curd.
There are several famous brands of tau fu fa in Ipoh. I've heard of Funny Mountain 奇峰豆腐花 but our Ipoh buddy Gilbert brought us to local favourite Woong Kee Ta Fu Fa 旺记祖傳豆腐花 at Jalan Ali Pitcha, Taman Jubilee.
It's a humble dingy corner shop lot. There was a long bar top type ledge at the window looking down at the grimy side alley and a beat up delivery van - nothing pretty to look at actually 😂 Enjoying tau fu fa perched at the window made me feel like a school boy again gallivanting with classmates after school. That's what foodie memories are made of.
Eating with a bowl in hand, sitting on flimsy stackable plastic stools along a corridor beside a drain - it's fun too.
In Ipoh, bean curd is eaten plain or with lots of different toppings. At Woong Kee Tau Fu Fa they have rice balls, red beans, gingko nuts, crushed peanuts, sesame seed paste, grass jelly etc.
I started with a plain one dressed with gula Melaka since I like palm sugar and we don't have bean curd this way in Singapore.
The bean curd was so soft and smooth, I couldn't resist a second go at it. This time with grass jelly. The grass jelly which was itself very soft, was firmer than Woong Kee's bean curd.
The silky smooth, jiggly soft bean curd slides down the throat like perfect half boiled (poached) egg. I can smell and taste the soybean flavour, with a subtle sweetness on my tongue.
Recommended for you 👍 When you visit Ipoh, you miss out if you leave one of Malaysia's culinary capitals without tasting their signature soybean curd (tau fu fa). One of the best you can try is at Woong Kee Tau Fu Fa 旺记祖傳豆腐花.
SmartDory says Woong Kee Tau Fu Fa is the best soybean curd in Ipoh 👈 click
Restaurant name: Woong Kee Tau Fu Fa 旺记祖傳豆腐花
Address: Jalan Ali Pitcha, Taman Jubilee, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
GPS: 4°35'28.7"N 101°05'05.0"E 4.591302, 101.084731
Tel: 016-533 3210
Hours: 1:00pm - 5:00pm
No pork, no lard, no Halal cert
Date visited: 30 Nov 2018
Thanks for the shoutout Johorkaki! So glad you enjoyed the taste too! Now you making me hungry again LOL
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