Shilin Night Market: Black Soybean Tofu at Jian Fa Hao (建發號傳統豆花) in Taipei

While strolling through Shilin Night Market (士林夜市), I was in the mood for something cold, maybe some tofu pudding (豆花), and as I was looking around, I stumbled upon an intriguing shop called Jian Fa Hao (建發號傳統豆花). The traditional shopfront caught my attention.

What caught my eye about this shop was this! In addition to the regular tofu pudding, they also offered black bean tofu pudding :). It’s quite rare to find a shop that serves black bean tofu pudding, and I haven’t come across much information about it.

This shop is a little further from the center of Shilin Night Market. While Shilin Night Market is near Jiantan Station, this shop is closer to Shilin Station. The menu includes not only tofu pudding but also egg pudding and shaved ice. Since it was winter, they also offered warm tofu pudding. There’s also red bean soup (紅豆湯) !

The menu mainly features drinks.

You order at the counter. After ordering and paying, your dish is ready immediately, and you can take it to any seat you prefer.

The seating area is set up on the side of the shop. After a group of high school students left, local customers kept coming in. There were very few foreign visitors at the time, probably due to the season.

Since I was drawn to the black bean tofu pudding, I, of course, ordered it. Black soybean tofu pudding. You can choose three toppings from the showcase. I chose tapioca, aiyu jelly, and taro balls. The transparent syrup was plentiful. The aiyu jelly was smooth, and the tapioca was chewy. The cold tofu pudding comes with shaved ice as a topping, but since the weather was warm, I requested it without.

Black soybean tofu pudding (黑豆豆花 / 青仁黑豆花) 50 TWD

The taro balls were chewy too!

When I picked it up, it felt heavy, but there was actually a lot of tofu pudding inside! The black tofu pudding in the container was between gray and brown in color. It had a rich bean flavor and was delicious. It tasted more like tofu than regular tofu pudding. The syrup and toppings were not too sweet, so the taste of the beans really stood out!