On Gengsheng North Road in Taitung City, a small shop lights up at five or six in the morning with a steaming broth vat at the door, a sign reading "Beinan Pig Blood Soup." A bowl arrives: large, tender cubes of pig blood, heaps of chives, a ladleful of hot broth — eat it with a fried dough stick and lard mixed rice, all for a few coins. This soup has been passed down three generations for over sixty years and is Taitung City's most unpretentious signature dish.
What is Beinan Pig Blood Soup?
Beinan Pig Blood Soup is a soup made primarily from fresh warm pig blood, chives, and pickled mustard greens, sometimes with pork large intestine, simmered in a pork bone broth. "Beinan" refers to the Beinan Canal district of Taitung City around Gengsheng North Road and Chuangguang Road — an old place name, the former territory of the Puyuma people — not a specific township. The pig blood must be fresh and warm-slaughtered to achieve its soft, flavorful texture. Chive segments add fragrance and cut the richness. The broth is typically clean and light. It is commonly eaten for breakfast or as a late-night snack alongside a fried dough stick or lard mixed rice.
Why Beinan? The Beinan Canal area was the site of the early Taitung market and slaughterhouse, making fresh warm pig blood readily available and giving rise to the local street-food culture here. The most representative shop is Hou Ji Beinan Pig Blood Soup, which claims 70 years of history across three generations with "no other branches"; another shop on Chuangguang Road claims 50 years. The two are run by different owners and are often confused by out-of-town visitors, but both are long-established local shops in the same Gengsheng North Road / Chuangguang Road area. The important thing is this flavor lineage, not the uniqueness of any single shop.
How to eat it the authentic way
Local knowledge
Verified sources (sponsored content filtered)
- Hou Ji Beinan Pig Blood Soup claims 70 years of history across three generations and "no other branches" — the representative long-established shop on Gengsheng North Road.
- A separate shop on Chuangguang Road also claims 50 years; the two different operators are frequently confused by out-of-town visitors.
- The Beinan Canal area was the site of the early Taitung market and slaughterhouse — the root from which this pig blood soup culture grew.
Practical tips
- "Beinan Pig Blood Soup" is a category, not a single shop. Don't assume there is only one authentic version — try multiple places and compare.
- Opens as early as 5 or 6 a.m. and most stalls close in the afternoon. Arrive early or you will miss out.
- Queues at peak weekend breakfast hours can be long and seating is limited. Takeaway — soup and rice in separate containers eaten nearby — is a common option.
Data compiled from the Taitung County Government Department of Transportation and Tourism Development, township and village farmers' associations, and large-scale public reviews. Sponsored listings have been filtered out. Photos will be replaced with exclusive channel footage after Dio's on-site shoot.