Liu Ma Kee, a fourth-generation business in Hong Kong’s Yau Ma Tei neighbourhood known for its fermented tofu products, has found itself in deep water over a row that dramatically escalated last week. The weeks-long controversy first started with a warning from health authorities that its sample contained an excessive amount of Bacillus cereus . The shop with almost 120 years of history challenged the findings and announced its abrupt closure, drawing plenty of sympathisers.
It was not until Saturday when the Centre of Food Safety dropped a bombshell revealing Liu Ma Kee had imported preserved bean curd rather than manufacture its own, and resold it with additives introduced under poor hygiene conditions. The shop eventually admitted on Monday that it had been importing the fermented bean curd from mainland China for 30 years ago and apologised to authorities for overreacting to the saga. The Post unpacks the fall of the city’s renowned household brand and traces how the saga unfolded.
Liu Ma Kee, which was founded 119 years ago, started as a shop selling various items such as fermented tofu products and sprouts. It decided to focus solely on selling fermented bean curds – its most well-known products – since 1971. Known as fuyu, fermented tofu is a traditional Chinese condiment made by processing and fermenting the soy product with salt, rice wine and flavourings.
The finished product has a distinctive pungent aroma and yielding texture that has been likened to ripe .