Tofu = 豆腐 [dòu fu]

A man slams his head into a block of tofu, and it is the tofu that breaks apart. That soft white block is 豆腐.

豆腐 (dòufu) means “tofu,” or bean curd. 豆 is bean. 腐 usually means “rotten,” but in 豆腐 nothing is spoiled; the word just names the soft curd. In everyday speech the 腐 is light: dòufu.

Count tofu with 块 (kuài), the measure word for chunks: 一块豆腐. A famous Sichuan dish is 麻婆豆腐 (mápó dòufu), mapo tofu.

我想吃麻婆豆腐。 — Wǒ xiǎng chī mápó dòufu. — I’d like mapo tofu.

豆腐很软。 — Dòufu hěn ruǎn. — Tofu is very soft.