What's Black and Tasty for Breakfast?

Eating of coagulated blood (duck or pig) is not uncommon in Asia. People who like me have a farming or rural background have seen lots of slaughtering of pigs and poultry to name just two farm animals. However by the age of 18 I could no longer stand the sight of animal blood although I did not turn vegetarian when I went to university. Dr. Albert Schweitzer's "Reference for Life" and other philosophers did make me eat more vegetables than meat.

Since the beginning of time I must say coagulated pig's blood has made its way to quite a number of Foochow dishes. Indeed some exotic dishes even call for its presence!! I know for sure that if porridge is made and peas and coagulated blood are added with some ginseng it is very health giving to some frail old people. This could be the time tried vitamins and iron the older generation knew of.

In fact I did not and could not cook anything with pig's blood for many years after an incident down river. I saw the slaughtering of two pigs by the river bank.

 Hence I was quite surprised to find black pudding as something very traditional and even exotic to people who relish a good heavy breakfast when I was introduced to it two years ago in the UK..All the blood which has been hidden by basil and other herbs and by fillers like oats have indeed made it quite palatable...

and in fact when challenged again if I could eat anything black in colour...I can say I can eat black pudding - a small slice though and find the herbs and seeds very interesting.

Logically people can argue with you that  if you have slaughtered a dear animal and can eat most of its parts..why not allow people to eat the blood as well? Good fresh food should not be allowed to go to waste...

By the way...incidentally there is indeed vegetarian black pudding..and you can find it in the UK!!

Black Pudding for breakfast prepared by my son.

In the UK, black pudding is considered a delicacy in the Black Country, where it can trace its origins back hundreds of years. It is to a lesser extent associated with Lancashire and particularly with the town of Bury, where it is sometimes boiled and served with malt vinegar out of paper wrapping.^[4] In the remainder of the country, and especially in the south, it is usually served sliced and fried or grilled as part of a traditional full breakfast; it is also served this way in Ireland, New Zealand, and the Canadian provinces ofNova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. The further addition of the similar white pudding is an important feature of the traditionalNorthumbrian, Scottish, Irish and Newfoundland breakfast. (Wikipedia) 

Vietnamese blood sausages - many people who have been to Vietnam enjoy this dish.

some Chinese families have started to make their own liver and blood sausages. I find those quite good too.

A friend in Sibu uses glutinous rice as fillers and she has some blood and liver added. Chillies and pepper make her home made sausages excellent. And they are eaten fresh during Chinese new year...and may be that would be what we can call poor man's foie gras  (Trade secret - no photos of her sausages...) She is a Heng Hua by the way. May be she learnt it from a Cantonese relative some where.

Cheers to food coloured BLACK!!