By Cheryl Chan
With the weather turning frosty, a cup of hot soybean milk is sure to warm you up. Unlike the soymilk found in American supermarkets, which is often regarded as a mere dairy substitute, this Asian soybean beverage, or dòu jiāng in Mandarin, is a dessert.
Fong Inn Too, a no-frills takeaway joint on Mott Street, specializes in this Asian treat and makes soybean milk fresh on the premises. The drink is extracted from ground soybeans and served sweetened, unsweetened, hot or cold.
The soybean can also be savored in its pudding form, known as tofu fa in Mandarin. It has a silky, flan-like consistency and a light tofu taste. Like soybean milk, tofu fa is served hot or cold, depending on your preference. Eat the pudding plain or drizzled with simple syrup for a sweet but not cloying dessert.
Tofu fa can be eaten at any time of the day. It can be served as a traditional Chinese breakfast item, Cantonese dim sum dessert, midday nibble or late-night supper.
Depending on your location, this popular item has many different monikers. It is known as doufu hua in China or Taiwan, tau huey in Singapore or Malaysia and dau fu fa in Hong Kong.
If soybean products aren’t your thing, Fong Inn Too also makes traditional homemade grass jelly drink, xian guo chao, or grass jelly pudding, xian chao. Grass jelly is made from Mesona chinensis, an herb in the mint family. The Chinese find it to be a cooling drink, and it is typically consumed during hot weather. However, it is a refreshing drink no matter the season.
The grass jelly pudding resembles black translucent Jell-O. Fong Inn Too serves it Cantonese style – plain, with syrup on the side. With the syrup, the jelly has a taste of honey finished with a mildly bitter, herbal note.
Another way to consume grass jelly is to cube it into tiny pieces and mix it together with soy bean milk. This grass jelly and soymilk combination is cheekily called “The Michael Jackson” in Singapore, a reference to his “Black or White” song.
The workers at Fong Too Inn do not speak much English, but you can order by pointing to whatever you want. And don’t be deterred by the seemingly gruff female proprietress. You don’t go to a traditional Chinese shop for service, you go for authenticity.
Fong Inn Too
46 Mott St.
New York, NY 10013
(212) 962-5196