Beinan Pork Blood Soup 卑南猪血汤

Beinan Pork Blood Soup (卑南猪血汤) is a Taitung (臺東) speciality with large pieces of pork blood curd, sliced large intestine, chives and pickled mustard. Its broth combines pork bones, cabbage and mustard greens.

The stock and the blood curd

Food researcher Lin Mingde (林明德) records the method described by second-generation maker Hou Meixiang (侯美香): fresh blood is processed to the desired firmness and cut into squares roughly five to six centimetres across. The vegetables and pork bones cook over high heat for three hours. The blood curd then simmers in that stock for half an hour before being drained.

Assembling the bowl

The large squares go into a bowl with pepper, chopped chives, pickled mustard and thin slices of large intestine. Boiling stock is ladled over them. Hou explains that the large pieces lose heat slowly and retain the flavour absorbed during cooking; Lin describes the finished soup as sweet and refreshing.