Tofu is the soft white food made by curdling soya milk and pressing it into blocks — what you already know as 豆腐. In English it is an uncountable noun, so people say some tofu, a piece of tofu, a block of tofu, and almost never two tofus. It comes in kinds: silken (very soft, wobbly), firm and extra-firm (good for frying), and English speakers use those words on the package.

Tofu is the soft white foodTofu 是軟軟白白的食物 made by curdling soya milk and pressing it into blocks用豆漿凝固後壓成塊做成的 — what you already know as 豆腐也就是你已經知道的豆腐。In English it is an uncountable noun在英文裡它是不可數名詞, so people say some tofu, a piece of tofu, a block of tofu所以會說 some tofu、a piece of tofu、a block of tofu, and almost never two tofus幾乎不會說 two tofus。It comes in kinds它分好幾種: silken (very soft, wobbly)silken 嫩豆腐（很軟、會晃）, firm and extra-firm (good for frying)firm 和 extra-firm 板豆腐（適合煎）, and English speakers use those words on the package英文使用者在包裝上就是用這些字。

In Western cooking tofu is mostly thought of as a meat substitute, something vegetarians eat instead of chicken, and that idea sits inside the word for many English speakers in a way it does not for us — for us it is just food.

In Western cooking在西式料理裡 tofu is mostly thought of as a meat substitutetofu 大多被當成肉的替代品, something vegetarians eat instead of chicken是素食者拿來代替雞肉吃的東西, and that idea sits inside the word for many English speakers這個聯想對很多英文使用者來說就藏在這個字裡 in a way it does not for us這點對我們來說並不存在 — for us it is just food對我們而言它就只是食物。

Because of that, tofu sometimes gets used as a joke word for something soft, pale, and boring; if someone says a film was tofu, they mean it had no flavour. That use is casual and not common.

Because of that正因為這樣, tofu sometimes gets used as a joke wordtofu 有時候會被拿來當玩笑話 for something soft, pale, and boring形容軟趴趴、蒼白、無趣的東西; if someone says a film was tofu如果有人說一部電影是 tofu, they mean it had no flavour意思是那部片沒味道、很平淡。That use is casual and not common這種用法很隨性，也不常見。

The word arrived in English through Japanese, which is why we say TOH-foo and not the Mandarin sounds.

The word arrived in English through Japanese這個字是經由日文傳進英文的, which is why we say TOH-foo這也是為什麼英文唸成 TOH-foo and not the Mandarin sounds而不是照國語的發音。