Mo-dubu

Tofu

A block of silken tofu from Japan
Alternative names	Bean curd
Place of origin	Han China
Associated national cuisine	Asian cuisines Chinese Filipino Indonesian Japanese Korean Malaysian Singaporean Thai Vietnamese
Main ingredients	Soy milk

Regional names
"Tofu" in Chinese characters
Chinese name
Chinese
Hanyu Pinyin	dòufu
Literal meaning	"bean curd/ferment"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin dòufu Bopomofo ㄉㄡˋ   ˙ㄈㄨ Gwoyeu Romatzyh dow.fuu Wade–Giles tou4-fu Tongyong Pinyin dòufů MPS2 dòufu IPA [tôu.fu] Wu Romanization deu-vu Hakka Romanization theu-fú Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization dauhfuh IPA [tɐ̀u̯.fùː] Jyutping dau6fu6 Southern Min Hokkien POJ tāu-hū Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC dâu-hũ Northern Min Jian'ou Romanized dae fu Middle Chinese Middle Chinese dəuH-bɨoX Old Chinese Zhengzhang *doːs boʔ
Burmese name
Burmese	ပဲပြား pèpya
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	đậu hũ
Chữ Nôm	豆腐
Thai name
Thai
RTGS	taohu
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja	豆腐
Transcriptions Revised Romanization dubu McCune–Reischauer tubu
Japanese name
Kanji
Kana
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn tōfu
Malay name
Malay	tauhu
Indonesian name
Indonesian	tahu
Filipino name
Tagalog	tokwa
Tamil name
Tamil	[டோஃபு ṭōḥpu] error: {{lang}}: text has italic markup (help)
Khmer name
Khmer	[ tauhu] error: {{lang}}: text has italic markup (help)

Tofu, also known as bean curd, is a food cultivated by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. It is a component in East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines. Tofu can be soft, firm, or extra firm. Tofu has a subtle flavor and can be used in savory and sweet dishes. It is often seasoned or marinated to suit the dish.

Tofu has a low calorie count and relatively large amounts of protein. It is high in iron, and it can have a high calcium or magnesium content, depending on the coagulants used in manufacturing (e.g. calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate).

The English term "tofu" comes from Japanese tōfu (豆腐), borrowed from the original Chinese equivalent (豆腐 (pinyin)), literally "bean" () + "curdled" or "fermented" ().

A reference to the word "towfu" exists in a letter dated 1770 from the English merchant James Flint to American statesman and scientist Benjamin Franklin. This is believed to be the first documented usage of the word in English.

The term "bean curd(s)" for tofu has been used in the United States since at least 1840. It is not frequently used outside of the United Kingdom, Australia or New Zealand.

Tofu-making was first recorded during the Chinese Han dynasty some 2,000 years ago. Chinese legend ascribes its invention to prince Liu An (179–122 BC). Tofu and its production technique were introduced into Korea and then Japan during the Nara period (710–794). Some scholars believe tofu arrived in Vietnam during the 10th and 11th centuries. It spread into other parts of Southeast Asia as well. This spread probably coincided with the spread of Buddhism because it is an important source of protein in the vegetarian diet of East Asian Buddhism.Li Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty described a method of making tofu in the Compendium of Materia Medica.