What it is
Pork blood soup (豬血湯) is a plain snack-shop soup. Pig blood is set into a soft, smooth curd, cut into cubes and served in a clear broth. The usual extras are garlic chives, pickled mustard greens (酸菜), fried shallot and white pepper. A version with sliced large intestine (大腸豬血湯) is just as common.
Where it came from
Blood curd is eaten across Chinese cooking, in congee, soups and hot pot, and Cantonese speakers call it 'pig red' (豬紅). Taiwan's soup belongs to that family and sits with the offal soups on snack-shop menus.
How it is made
Fresh blood is left in a clean container until it sets, which takes around ten minutes. The block is cut up and heated gently in salted water so it firms. To serve, the cubes are warmed in broth, with intestine if ordered, then topped with chives, pickled greens, fried shallot and pepper.
How to eat it
It is an everyday snack rather than a meal. A small bowl of braised pork rice (肉燥飯) or fried rice noodles (炒米粉) often comes alongside. Pepper sits on the table, and many regulars shake in plenty.
Around Taiwan
- Kaohsiung
- 55-Year Pork Blood Soup (55年老店豬血湯) on Datong 1st Road serves a sweetish, peppery broth with large, well-cleaned pieces of intestine. Locals order braised pork rice with it, the sauce cooked for three hours with shallots.
- North
- At Ningxia Night Market in Taipei, a pork blood soup with pickled mustard greens, chives, fried shallot and white pepper has been sold for about fifty years.
- Hakka
- Hakka households cook pig blood, which they call 'pig red', in soup with pickled mustard greens. The same sour base turns into small intestine soup (酸菜小腸湯) or mixed offal soup (酸菜下水湯).
