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  • My name is Matthias, I'm from Germany and I'm a first-year student in Taiwan.

  • Have you ever heard of the "pig blood cake"?

  • The pig blood cake is a very important part of the Taiwanese food culture,

  • which unfortunately seems to lose it's popularity, especially for young people.

  • If it's the first time that you hear about the pig blood cake

  • you might feel a bit confused and wonder:

  • How can somebody come up with that idea to put blood into a cake?

  • So I always imagined the famous Taiwanese Yuebing

  • just with the filling of blood.

  • The confusion is simply made by it's name,

  • because we refer it to a real kind of cake.

  • The pig blood cake, in fact, is a mix of pig blood and glutinous rice.

  • It can be boiled, steamed, braised or deep fried.

  • In the usual way it will be steamed,

  • cut in a rectangle shape and placed on a stick.

  • Later on, the seller will use a special dip.

  • And if you want, you can have it spicy.

  • Once it is coated in it's sauce,

  • it will be covered with peanut powder

  • and Chinese parsley.

  • It is not easy to find out very much about it's history,

  • because the origin is not 100% sure.

  • But it is believed, that it first appeared after World War II in Dadaocheng,

  • which is in the Datong district of Taipei city.

  • It was a time when the people suffered from poverty.

  • And these people highly believed that pig blood is very nutritious,

  • so they went to the slaughterhouses in the early mornings

  • to ask for pig blood.

  • If you are a tourist in Taiwan

  • then the Taiwanese will mostly introduce the food,

  • because they do really love to eat.

  • The pig blood cake is a good example for this,

  • because you might think, that it is unusual

  • to eat something that is made out of pig blood.

  • And because there are many snacks, different than what you expect,

  • the Taiwanese will often ask the question

  • "Do you dare eat (pig blood cake)?"

  • Okay, let's go somewhere else.

  • And it's actually really good!

  • And this one, too. Tastes very good.

  • This is where my story ends.

  • I hope I could make the pig blood cake more interesting for you.

  • I invite you to try it.

  • To all friends of Taiwan

  • I dare eat! And you?

My name is Matthias, I'm from Germany and I'm a first-year student in Taiwan.

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