You can now get ‘dou fu nao-style’ mala tau hway in Singapore, at new soybean dessert chain Soy Appetit. It currently has three outlets, and recently opened its latest 12-seat branch (pictured) at a residential neighbourhood along Ubi Avenue. On the menu are all kinds of desserts made with soybeans, like bubble tea, gelato, beancurd tarts and tau hway. If you don’t fancy soybeans, there’s also a range of curry puffs, cakes and pastries that you can order with bubble tea.

Soy Appetit’s co-owner is viral bubble tea hawker Zhou Zhen Yang (pictured), 26, who runs the popular Beautea stall at ABC Brickworks Market. Originally from Sichuan, China, he introduced some of his hometown’s popular snacks like suan la fen and liang mian here, which are sold at a second Beautea outlet he recently opened in Toa Payoh. He also forayed into selling soybean desserts as he reckons “they’re healthier”.

For Soy Appetit, he partners Lim Chin Leong (left), 40, and Paul Lim (right), 39, the owners of a food chemical company. The three men parlay their respective expertises into creating interesting food items — Chin Leong and Paul came up with gelato in flavours like Chilli Crab, Chendol and D24 Durian. The ice cream is mainly soy milk-based (with the exception of Chilli Crab, due to the proprietary recipe that requires whole milk). Meanwhile, Zhen Yang concocted a selection of bubble tea made with soy milk, like Brown Sugar Pearl Fresh Soy Milk, Watermelon Lychee Soy Milk and Cookies & Cream Soy Milk.

“People either love or hate this,” laughs Chin Leong. Despite its moniker, he says there’s no crab meat in this flavour, which is instead spiked with the spicy chilli-tomato sauce used for the crab dish. The texture of our scoop is nice; creamy and moreish. But the gelato’s spice-heavy, sweet-savoury tang is more suitable for crabs than ice cream, we think. Zhen Yang tells us that the chain will soon introduce a "black pepper flavour" for the gelato menu.

Try the soy milk Chendol flavour instead, with generous licks of fragrant, caramelly gula melaka. It’s studded with what seems like adzuki beans, but are really frozen bits of chendol jelly (though it all tastes like a decadent spoonful of chendol in our mouth). Or the D24 Durian, an enjoyably pungent scoop that’s just as tasty and smooth, with a hint of soy milk. The shop also lets you add gelato to your BBT order ($1.80 a portion).

Instead of mala-infused beancurd, we’re served a bowl of smooth, silken tau hway liberally topped with fried peanuts, black sesame seeds, cilantro, spring onions, dried chillies and mala chilli paste. Zhen Yang tells us that the very spicy bowl is meant to be eaten “all mixed up” (ask for less chilli if you're a chilli wimp). It reminds us a little of mapo tofu without minced meat and even silkier tofu, with a shiok crunch from the heapings of peanuts and preserved Sichuan mustard stem. A nice snack for when you’re feeling just a bit peckish and craving for some spice.

What’s better than a soy beancurd tart? One topped with brown sugar tapioca pearls. The delicate tart, with a gelatinous soy beancurd mix poured into a crispy (though slightly dry and overbaked) shell, goes surprisingly well with a scoop of sweet, warm, chewy pearls.

Citrus fruits and soy milk seem like odd bedfellows, but we enjoy this thick smoothie-like concoction which has zesty kumquat and lemon juice cutting through the jelak-ness of soy milk. Fun to slurp up along with firm, chewy bits of nata de coco.

Instead of the usual cup, this comes in a sealed can with a pull tab. It has fresh strawberries blended with soy milk, and is lusciously gao and indulgent without being too sweet.

We can’t pass up a good cup of brown sugar pearl milk, but this is one drink where soy milk can’t replace the velvety creaminess and clean flavour of fresh full cream milk; we don’t quite fancy the taste of extra-sweet, beany soy milk.

Juicy blitzed watermelon and lychee bits poured over with soy milk. It seems like fruits are a better pairing with soy milk than brown sugar — their natural sweetness goes well with the raw flavour of soybeans.

Soy Appetit, three outlets including:

●     #01-931, Blk 342 Ubi Ave 1, S400342.

●     #01-3027, Blk 744 Bedok Reservoir Rd, S470744.

●     #01-113, Blk 3 St George Rd, S320003.

Open daily 10am-10pm. www.facebook.com/soyappetit.

PHOTOS: YIP JIEYING