Hou’s Pig’s Blood Soup in Beinan: a 60-year-old Establishment

BY SHAWN TENG DECEMBER 3 , 2018

“Our philosophy of cooking is to provide the most delicious and the freshest food ever, and to let customers have a sense of enjoyment when eating our dishes,” said Mr. Hou, the third-generation owner of Hou’s Pig’s Blood Soup in Beinan.

(Photo by Shawn-Teng)

Hou’s Pig’s Blood Soup is located at the roadside of Gengsheng N. Rd., which is around a 10 to 15 minutes’ drive from downtown Taitung. Their signature cuisine is the “pig’s blood soup”, which is a bowl of soup that has pig’s blood jelly inside it. It goes with pig’s small intestines, spring onions, and ground pepper. According to information from both the Taitung Government and Hou, many tourists plan to eat pig’s blood soup when they visit Taitung.

(Photo by Shawn-Teng)

“It’s been 60 years since my grandmother first cooked and sold pig’s blood soup,” said Hou. “She used to sell pig’s blood soup by using a small mobile food-stall; a few years later, she bought a new place which is the one we’re still using right now. It is literally a historic place.’’

Hou also mentioned some of the difficulties that Pig’s Blood Soup in Beinan has encountered. First and foremost, due to the low incomes of young generation, there are fewer people who are willing to spend their money, whether for food or for other daily necessities. It has had a huge impact on the whole tourism industry. Secondly, people tend to spend their money on chain stores which tend to have lower prices, rather than support local stores, even if the product is more special.

“It’s much harder for us to survive under these circumstances,” said Mrs. Lee, one of the staff at Hou’s.