Pig Blood Cake | Taipei Signature Dish

One skewer, dipped in sweet soy paste, rolled through peanut powder, finished with a scatter of cilantro leaves — pig blood cake is one of the most recognizable street snacks at a Taiwan night market. The deep-brown, springy rice cake carries a faint mineral note; coated in sweet, nutty peanut powder and savory paste, every bite is straightforward and satisfying. Shilin Night Market is the most common place where visitors to Taipei first encounter pig blood cake.

What is Pig Blood Cake

Pig blood cake is made by mixing glutinous rice with fresh pig blood and steaming the mixture into a block. The pig blood gives it a deep-brown color and distinctive aroma; once steamed, the texture falls somewhere between a glutinous rice cake and a blood sausage — slightly elastic on the outside, soft and dense inside. To eat it, you push a bamboo skewer through, dip it in sweet soy paste (savory-sweet), roll it evenly through finely ground peanut powder, then top with chopped cilantro. Three layers of flavor — savory paste, nutty fragrance, fresh herbal note — combine to give pig blood cake its complete taste profile.

Eating pig blood is unremarkable in Minnan culinary tradition. Taiwan's version — using glutinous rice as the base, steaming it into blocks, and selling it on skewers from market stalls — is a locally developed product of the highly evolved night market vendor culture. Shilin Night Market took shape during the Japanese colonial era and expanded after World War II into Taipei's largest tourist night market. Pig blood cake became one of the symbolic items through which visitors discover Taiwan's night market culture, while locals regard it as an ordinary late-night snack.

How to eat it like a local

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Roll the peanut powder on evenlyThe correct technique is to slowly roll the whole skewer through the peanut powder tray until all four sides are fully coated. A bite that misses peanut powder loses the full flavor balance.

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Cilantro is optional — just say soCilantro is traditional, but if you don't enjoy it, simply tell the vendor to leave it off. The flavor remains complete without it — no need to feel awkward about asking.

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Eat it fresh while it's hotOnce pig blood cake cools, the texture becomes noticeably harder and the experience suffers. Buy it and eat as you walk — don't let it sit.

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Take small bites to appreciate the springinessGlutinous rice steamed at high density is chewy and compact. Too large a bite overrides the peanut fragrance. Small, slow bites let you taste both the rice and the layering of pig blood cake.

Local knowledge

Verified endorsements

Pig blood cake preparation: glutinous rice and pig blood are mixed and steamed into blocks, skewered on bamboo, dipped in sweet soy paste, rolled in peanut powder, and topped with cilantro — a traditional representative street snack at Taiwan night markets.
Shilin Night Market is Taipei's largest tourist night market, listed by the Taipei City Government as a recommended attraction, drawing large numbers of domestic and international visitors daily.

Visiting tips

Shilin Night Market is extremely crowded on weekends. Weekday evenings are recommended; peanut powder stalls typically start opening from around 5 p.m.
Pig blood cake has a distinctive aroma. First-timers may want to start with a stall that has a lighter flavor profile; some stalls offer chili sauce on request.
MRT Jiantan Station exit leads directly to the market. Parking is difficult; public transit is strongly recommended.

Source: field survey data on Taiwan night market food culture. Photos to be replaced with Dio's on-site shots.

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