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Pinkelle tagged me with this meme on my favourite food. My first thought when I read it was “Die la, how to select only ONE?”

Hence the delay coz I’ve been racking my brains trying to think of my favourite food. Have to be careful, k? Your favourite food defines you! I don’t want to be known as the female blogger who loves errr….chicken pie? Not that there’s anything wrong with chicken pie per se, but then people might think…eeeyeeerr…chicken pie? How boring. Then I’ll forever be known as that boring female blogger who loves chicken pie. How how?

Ok, jokes aside…*puts on thinking cap*. Seriously though, it’s not easy for me to select a favourite food because I can no longer eat most of the food that I like due to my sensitive tummy. Chocolates, ice-cream, certain fruits, nasi lemak…I can no longer indulge in them as often as I would like to unless I want to skip work the next day…*wink*

So I suppose I’ll settle with a current favourite that looks like it’s here to stay:

Tau foo fa!

Now, how many of you guessed I would pick that?

This is what I found about tau foo fa from Wikipedia:

Dòuf�?huā (Chinese: �?�?��?�, literally “bean curd flower”), also called Dòuhuā (�?�?�) or dòuf�?n�?o (�?�?��?�), is an extra soft form of doufu (tofu) that is used in both desserts and salty dishes. It slightly resembles a custard.

In Taiwan, douhua is served with toppings like cooked peanuts, azuki beans, cooked oatmeal, tapioca, mung beans and a syrup flavored with ginger or almond. During the summer, douhua is served with crushed ice; in the winter, it is served warm.

In Hong Kong it is known as bean curd dessert, or by the name dau fu fa (�?�?��?�) in Cantonese. There, it can be served with ginger or syrup, and sometimes as a mixture with black sesame paste, and sometimes also with coconut milk. Traditionally it is made with wooden bucket, which is sold as dau fu fa in wooden bucket (�?�桶�?�?��?�). Dau fu fa is also sold as packed cold dessert at supermarkets.

In northern China, douhua is often eaten with soy sauce, thus making a salty flavour.

Douhua is also served as a sweet dessert in Singapore and Malaysia. In those countries it is more commonly known by its names tow huay or tau huay in Southern Min Chinese, or by the name in Cantonese. It is usually served either with a clear sweet syrup alone, with Ginkgo seeds suspended in the syrup, or in a sugar syrup infused with pandan. In Japan, this style of douhua is known as “annin dofu.”

In the Philippines it is known as taho and sold by hawkers in the mornings. It is served warm with a dark brown syrup and sago or tapioca balls.

Personally, I love tau foo fa coz it’s so versatile. It’s lovely taken hot or cold, plain, with ginger syrup, gula melaka (palm sugar) syrup or with soyabean (tau cheong). You can eat it with barley seeds (see top right pic), with mango puree (see left pic) or with lots of different toppings like the one served in Vietnam Kitchen @ 1U (see bottom right pic).

I can never resist a bowl of tau foo fa. Unlike most of my favs, this one doesn’t give me a tummy ache, and one bowl is always just nice…it never fills you up completely and it leaves you kinda wanting abit more.

Among all the tau foo fa stalls that I’ve tried so far, I still think Funny Mountain @ Ipoh is one of the best. It’s not cheap coz the portion is really little (like half a plastic bowl!), but it has that silky smooth texture that drives me nuts everytime I eat it.

And now that you’ve read about my current favourite food, do you feel like eating a bowl? Well, luckily for you, tau foo fa is pretty easy to find. It’s usually sold along the roadside together with soyabean milk, and here are some of the places you can go to enjoy a bowl:

1. There are two tau foo fa shops near TMC @ Lucky Garden. One opens in the morning till about 7pm and is usually located in front of TMC (though recently, I’ve spotted them near Nam Chuan coffeeshop to avoid being detected by DBKL). The other opens at night behind TMC. I never go for the shop that opens at night though coz I once spotted a cockroach making it’s way across the countertop. The tau foo fa from the morning shop is nice and firm, very much like tofu.
2. The Soya Shop @ Hartamas Shopping Centre (ground floor) and Ikano (basement). Their tau foo fa is not as firm as the above shop, and I like the syrup.
3. Ipoh Old Town @ Lucky Garden (next to Nam Chun coffeeshop). Pretty good, but it’s expensive!
4. There’s a stall in a small alley next to Guardian at the junction of Lebuh Ampang and Jalan Tun Perak. The tau foo fa is really cheap (RM1.10 if I remember correctly, and big portions too!) and has a soft, wobbly texture. Lovely when eaten hot together with the soyabean milk. The sugar syrup is just so-so.
5. Funny Mountain (49 Jalan Theatre, 016-595 0369/012-516 1607) @ Ipoh…what can I say? Smooth and silky…it just slides down your throat! Be prepared to queue though!

And in Hong Kong:
6. The Sweet Dynasty (Ground floor, 88 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, 2199 7799). Famous for their tau foo fa that’s served in a small wooden barrel.
7. Mun Kei Tim Pan (4th and 10th floor of Langham Place, Mongkok)…ever tried tau foo fa with mango puree? An unlikely but absolutely delish combination!

And in Singapore:
8. Jollibean franchise @ Funan (ground floor) and Paragon (basement).
9. Pinle franchise @ Suntec City next to Tony Romas (and Vivocity as well, if I remember correctly).

Now my appetite’s all worked up!

***Start Copy***

Proposition: What is your favorite food in your state or country?

Requirements: Find some info about the food and show delicious pictures of it.

Quantity: FIVE PEOPLE.

Tag mode: You leave their blog and post link and add to the list below.

Mybabybay loves Asam Laksa from Penang, Malaysia
JustMyThoughts loves Penang Char Koay Teow
My Lil Venture loves Laksa Sarawak
Monterssorimum loves Teluk Intan Chee Cheong Fun
Chinnee loves Melaka Wan Tan Mee
PeimunLeah loves Hakka Lei Cha
Hui Sia
Jonamum
Karen loves Pan Mee
Something about Lai loves Crispy duck skin from China
Simple American loves Cheese Enchiladas
Nicole Tan loves Char Tau Kueh
Velverse loves Otak-otak
Kenny Ng loves Jawa Mee
Fatty Poh loves Nasi Dagang Kelantan
wmw loves Kuih Tutu
Lyrical Lemongrass loves Asam Boi
Pinkelle loves Mee Siput and Keropok Lekor
Soo Yin loves Tau Foo Fa

And I tag:
1. M @ Pitter-Potter
2. Geekchic
3. Carrot
4. Mei
5. Lynn

with the usual caveat to ignore me if you don’t do memes!