Pig's blood curd and Chinese chive soup

Ingredients

Method

Blanch the pork blood curd first (汆水, a quick boil). Once the water boils add the ginger and the blood curd for 5 to 8 minutes, then the chives for the last 1 to 2 minutes. Keeping the blood curd tender comes down to not boiling it hard for too long.

1. Rinse the pork blood curd 2 to 3 times and soak it for 30 minutes.
2. Start it in cold water and blanch it (汆水, a quick boil) hard for 5 minutes to take off the smell and clear any grit.
3. Bring about 1 litre of water to the boil, add the ginger slices and the pork blood curd and boil for 5 to 8 minutes.
4. Add the Chinese chives in the last 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Finish with ground white pepper and salt.

Who it suits

• traditionally eaten by people told they are low in iron (pork blood curd runs about 7.8 g protein and 25 mg iron per 100 g)
• outdoor and building site workers (from the folk belief that it clears dust)

Who should take care

• people with gout or high uric acid should keep to a moderate amount (high in purines)
• pork blood curd must be bought from a reliable stall (hygiene)

Soup stories

A quick-boil that crossed from the Chiu Chow 打冷 stalls into the home kitchen. The belief that it clears dust made it a traditional soup for building site and street workers. The soup version is light, while the 打冷 version adds radish and satay and turns into a stir-fry. It is the offal and blood entry in the quick-boil family.

From the same family

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.