Lai Min-nan points out that while stinky tofu is a fermented food product, it differs fundamentally from soy sauce, vinegar, miso and other food products made with one type of bacterium in that its bacteria have not been cultivated. Growing completely naturally and freely, its micro-organisms are very complicated.
賴敏男指出，臭豆腐是一種發酵食品，但它與醬油、醋、味噌等單一菌種發酵食品不同的是，其菌種沒有經過培養，完全開放、任由其自然生長，因而微生物種類非常複雜。