tumetai touhu ni syouyu wo kakete taberuno ga suki desu.

In Japanese, adjectives usually come before the noun they describe, just like in English.

So:

• 冷たい豆腐 = cold tofu

Here, 冷たい is an i-adjective, and it directly modifies 豆腐.

The particle に marks the thing that the soy sauce is being put onto.

In this sentence:

• 豆腐にしょうゆをかけて = pour soy sauce onto tofu

With the verb かける when it means to pour/sprinkle something onto something, the pattern is often:

• A に B をかける
• put/pour/sprinkle B onto A

So:

• 豆腐に = onto the tofu
• しょうゆを = soy sauce

Because しょうゆ is the thing being poured.

With を, Japanese marks the direct object of the verb. In this case, the verb is かける.

So:

• しょうゆをかける = to pour soy sauce / to put soy sauce on

The full relationship is:

• 豆腐に = onto tofu
• しょうゆを = soy sauce
• かけて = pour and...

かけて is the て-form of かける.

Here, the て-form connects two actions:

• しょうゆをかけて
• 食べる

So the meaning is roughly:

• put soy sauce on it and eat it
• or eat it with soy sauce poured on

The て-form often works like and, especially when one action happens before the next.

Because の turns the verb phrase into something noun-like.

Japanese often needs to make an action into a thing/concept when talking about liking, disliking, being good at, etc.

So:

• 食べる = to eat
• 食べるの = eating / the act of eating

More precisely, the whole chunk before が好きです is being treated as the thing that is liked:

• 冷たい豆腐にしょうゆをかけて食べるの = eating cold tofu with soy sauce on it

Yes, こと is sometimes possible, but の sounds more natural here.

Compare:

• 食べるのが好きです
• 食べることが好きです

Both can mean I like eating, but の often sounds more natural for familiar, concrete actions and experiences.

In this sentence, 食べるのが好きです is the more natural choice.

This is a very common question.

In Japanese, 好き is not a regular verb like English like. It behaves more like an adjective or adjective-like noun meaning liked or pleasant.

Because of that, the thing that is liked is often marked with が:

• 寿司が好きです = I like sushi
• 本を読むのが好きです = I like reading books

So here:

• 冷たい豆腐にしょうゆをかけて食べるのが好きです = I like eating cold tofu with soy sauce on it

Even though English uses like + object, Japanese uses 好き differently.

The subject is omitted.

Japanese often leaves out things that are understood from context, especially I, you, or it.

So this sentence naturally means:

• I like eating cold tofu with soy sauce on it

But Japanese does not need to say 私は unless there is a reason to emphasize or contrast the topic.

A fuller version could be:

• 私は冷たい豆腐にしょうゆをかけて食べるのが好きです。

But the shorter version is very natural.

Because the topic is simply left unstated.

Japanese often omits the topic when it is obvious from context. If the speaker is talking about their own preferences, 私は can be understood without saying it.

So:

• 冷たい豆腐にしょうゆをかけて食べるのが好きです。 naturally implies
• (私は) 冷たい豆腐にしょうゆをかけて食べるのが好きです。

Adding は is possible, but not necessary.

Literally, it means cold tofu.

In real life, this often refers to chilled tofu, and in Japanese food culture that can suggest 冷奴（ひややっこ）, a common tofu dish served cold, often with soy sauce.

However, the sentence itself just says cold tofu. It does not specifically use the word 冷奴.

It can be broken down like this:

• 冷たい豆腐に = onto cold tofu
• しょうゆをかけて = pour soy sauce and...
• 食べるの = eating it / the act of eating it
• が好きです = is liked / I like

So the core pattern is:

• [verb phrase] の が 好きです
• I like [doing ...]

In this sentence, the verb phrase is:

• 冷たい豆腐にしょうゆをかけて食べる
• to eat cold tofu after putting soy sauce on it

Japanese word order is more flexible than English, but not completely free.

This sentence in its current order is natural:

• 冷たい豆腐にしょうゆをかけて食べるのが好きです。

You might also hear small variations depending on emphasis, but the particles are what show the grammatical roles.

For example, 豆腐に and しょうゆを are understood because of に and を, not just because of position.

Still, for learners, the given order is a good, natural pattern to follow.

です makes the sentence polite.

Without it, the sentence would be more casual:

• 冷たい豆腐にしょうゆをかけて食べるのが好き。

With です:

• 冷たい豆腐にしょうゆをかけて食べるのが好きです。

So the meaning stays the same, but the level of politeness changes.