tofu

Thân thiện

She slices a block of firm tofu on a wooden cutting board.

Definition

Noun: A soft, white, cheeselike food made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid blocks. It is a high-protein, low-fat food originating from East Asian cuisine.

Usage

"Tofu" is an uncountable noun. It refers to the food substance itself, not to an individual piece. You use it like other mass nouns (e.g., cheese, bread). * You can buy tofu at the supermarket. * This recipe calls for 200 grams of firm tofu. * I'm trying to eat more tofu.

Examples

• Silken tofu is perfect for smoothies and desserts.
• She cubed the tofu and added it to the stir-fry.
• Tofu is a common source of protein in vegetarian diets.
• The texture of this tofu is very smooth.

Advanced Usage

• "Tofu" as a Modifier: "Tofu" is often used attributively (like an adjective) to describe other nouns related to it.
  • We visited a tofu factory.
  • I love tofu scramble for breakfast.
• Specific Types: The word "tofu" is often preceded by adjectives describing its texture or preparation style.
  • firm tofu, extra-firm tofu, soft tofu, silken tofu, smoked tofu, fermented tofu

Variants and Related Words

• Bean curd: This is a direct translation and a common synonym for "tofu," especially in older texts or certain regional contexts.
• Doufu (豆腐): The Mandarin Chinese word from which "tofu" is derived.

Synonyms

• Bean curd

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "As bland as tofu": An informal simile used to describe something very plain, flavorless, or lacking in excitement, playing on tofu's neutral taste. (Note: This is not a fixed idiom but a common comparative phrase).
  • The lecture was as bland as tofu.
• "Tofu-dreg construction" (豆腐渣工程): A calque from Chinese, used in specific contexts to describe shoddy, poor-quality construction that collapses easily, metaphorically like fragile tofu. This is a specialized term.

Học thuật

Noun

1. cheeselike food made of curdled soybean milk

Từ đồng nghĩa

• bean curd