Fu Hang Soy Milk 阜杭豆漿 @ Taipei (2023)

For over six decades, this beloved establishment has been serving up traditional Taiwanese breakfast dishes for locals and tourists alike. Be prepared to queue.

Fu Hang Soy Milk is a renowned breakfast spot in Taipei that specialises in traditional Taiwanese breakfast dishes. It offers an array of choices, including shaobing, youtiao, and various soy milk options. This popular restaurant has long waiting times, sometimes up to an hour, so it’s advisable to plan ahead or have a snack before joining the queue.

You see, everything is a derivative of soy bean and/or wheat flour. The dough is knitted in the shop at one corner. Then, it is stretched to different thickness based on the item they are making.

Flatbreads with fillings 燒餅, you take a ball of dough and stuff filings into it. Signature flatbread 厚餅, you stretch the dough but still leave it rather thick. Pancake 薄餅, you stretched it out a bit more to crepe thickness. These are baked in tandoori oven, and then served with different fillings.

As you approached the store, you would be underwhelmed by the size of the place. It was around the size of 2 hawker stores in Singapore. It was nearly divided into three sections, one for taking drinks order, one for food, and the last for collecting money and packing for takeaway and food delivery. 

Everything is delivered with military precision since they got their Michelin Bib Gourmand, the number of people coming to this place has quadrupled. If not for Covid, this would still be overrun by tourists. The locals, they opt for other stores around the area. Considering the size of the crowd, it was pretty swift and efficient.

I ordered the whole entourage – 飯糰 rice ball, 油條 donut stick (also called dough fritters in Singapore), 甜豆漿 sweetened soy milk, 鹹豆漿 salty soy milk, 薄餅夾蛋 egg pancake, and 蔥花鹹餅 scallion baked rolls. Not for those on a GF diet or sufferers of gout or allergic to sesame. That’s a lot of carbs for two persons!

The first of three stations along the counter was the liquid section, where you order the soy milk – sweetened, unsweetened, or salted. And you need to tell them if you are having it here “nei yong” 內用 or takeaway “wai dai” 外帶. Screw up in any of the process, the whole queue gets held up, so don’t screw up!

The soy milk was made in store everyday without any additives, and they used only Canadian non-GMO soy beans. One of the reason why they have such a big following is issues with other soy milk shops in Taiwan using GMO beans and additives to enhance the taste.

This was my favourite – 鹹豆漿 salty soy milk. Standard soy milk was mixed with a savoury liquid made from dried radish. Before serving, a sprinkle of chopped scallions and you have a hot bowl of savoury goodness on a cold winter morning.

When you reached the bottom of the bowl of salted soy milk, you may find some of these dried shrimp 蝦皮 which was what provided all those flavours an umami to otherwise a monotonous bowl of soy milk.

Take a donut stick and soak it in the liquid. The trick is to soak long enough to infuse the soy milk into the donut and not long enough to turn it soggy. In Hong Kong, youtiao 油條 is also called yaozhaguei 油炸鬼. According to folklore, it was an act of protest against Song Dynasty official Qin Hui 秦檜, who is said to have orchestrated the plot to frame the general Yue Fei 岳飛, an icon of patriotism in Chinese culture. 

Egg pancake 蛋餅, you stretch the dough to roti prata or crepe thickness and cracked an egg on it. Add some savoury sauce and scallions while the pancake cooks on the hotplate, roll it up when done, and cut it into pieces.

蔥花鹹餅 scallion baked rolls looked like little sesame biscuits. They are nice little good eats, and still taste great even when cold.

The sesame seeds on the crust were very fragrant. However, I wished there were more scallions in the filling.

Last but not least, I really like their rice balls 飯糰. The sweet one came with sweet pork floss, while the savoury version is filled with salted radish and crushed youtiao.

If you want an extra kick, feel free to add the chilli sauce provided on the table.

Fuhang Soy Milk offers great value for money considering the quality and freshness of their food and drink items.  Popularity is a double-edged sword – you reach to a certain volume, you modernise and cut back on the ingredients to keep the costs down. I can only hope that they maintain this insistence to use only the best ingredients to produce their food while keeping the costs so approachable.

Fu Hang Soy Milk 阜杭豆漿
100台北市中正区忠孝东路一段108号2F (华山市场二楼；捷运善导寺站出口5)
No. 108 Zhonghsiao East Road Sec 1, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Tel : +886 2 2392 2175

Visited Sep 2023

Michelin Taiwan Guide Bib Gourmand 2018-2022

PS: They lost the Bib Gourmand status in 2023