Poll: Let them eat blood! Are you an (intentional) blood eater in Thailand?

[Jingthing]

A number of Thai dishes have blood in them.

We've all seen the blood cakes in soups.

Then there are boat noodles with the fresh pork blood.

Also some of the classic meat salads.

I was raised to find eating blood disgusting. Offal too, except for liver. I have no problem with that conditioning. A western exception might be a rare steak with some blood, but nothing extreme.

My first experience with explicit blood food was blood sausages in Portugal in soup. I tasted them, they weren't horrible, but after that I would just leave them in my soup. 

In Thailand I avoid boat noodles and if I do get a noodle soup with blood cakes I try to fish them out.

I don't want to even give blood a chance. 

So what are your feelings about eating blood in Thai or other kinds of food in Thailand?

On the poll, please pick the choice that is closest to how you feel.

 

 

Blood is a respected ingredient around the world, but less so in the U.S. A new book aims to change that. - The Washington Post

 

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by Jingthing

[upu2]

I do like black pudding which contains pigs blood so I would have to say it depends what form the blood takes.

[Enoon]

I had a friend who was happily tucking into a Peshwari naan bread for the first time.

 

He was really enjoying it and asked what the ingredients were.

 

I told him that it contained coconut.

 

He grimaced at put it to one side.

 

Because he "didn't like coconut" he told me.

 

Funny old things us people are.

 

If you eat Peshwari Naan you eat coconut.

 

If you eat meat you eat blood.

 

This would be Philip Larkins response to your tale of ethnic, "belief" based, familial tyranny:

 

They **** you up, your mum and dad.   

    They may not mean to, but they do.   

They fill you with the faults they had

    And add some extra, just for you.

 

But they were ****** up in their turn

    By fools in old-style hats and coats,   

Who half the time were soppy-stern

    And half at one another’s throats.

 

Man hands on misery to man.

    It deepens like a coastal shelf.

Get out as early as you can,

    And don’t have any kids yourself.

                                  

"This The The Verse", Philip Larkin, 1922-1985.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by Enoon

[Jingthing]

Eating some cooked meat is not the same thing as pouring in pure blood into a soup or salad or making a cake made of blood.

[CharlieH]

In my younger days I would eat "black pudding", not actually knowing what it was(contained). When I found out, I never ate it again. I was always taught if you see blood its not cooked.

 

As for Thai dishes, absolutely not, no way would I knowingly eat blood or a variation of it.

 

 

 

[scubascuba3]

Blood makes my pork noodle soup taste much better, also the blood cakes in my duck noodle soup are OK, not much taste but a filler and plenty of iron so I always eat them

[tonray]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

Blood makes my pork noodle soup taste much better, also the blood cakes in my duck noodle soup are OK, not much taste but a filler and plenty of iron so I always eat them

Unless you are anemic or a menstruating female, iron supplementation is potentially harmful to adult males...has to do with blood clotting and heart attack and stroke risk

[scubascuba3]

14 minutes ago, tonray said:

Unless you are anemic or a menstruating female, iron supplementation is potentially harmful to adult males...has to do with blood clotting and heart attack and stroke risk

how much is too much blood? we're not talking iron supplement tablets here

[faraday]

Tried Black Sausage....ohhh...solly, I meant Pudding  many years ago. I really dislike it. So no, I wouldn't eat any blood stuff here. 

[tonray]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

how much is too much blood? we're not talking iron supplement tablets here

You're right of course...just pointing out that eating it for iron is not necessary for men.

[KC 71]

Thats a definite no from me

[scubascuba3]

Maybe you should do another poll, do you Stick to Falang food? and %'s, many Falang don't even like Thai food

[NCC1701A]

i usually do a precursory inspection most likely with a flashlight to avoid unintentional blood eating. 

[Orton Rd]

Blood, meat, fish, all disgusting

[Jingthing]

35 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Maybe you should do another poll, do you Stick to Falang food? and %'s, many Falang don't even like Thai food

Unfortunately I did try to edit this poll to clearly include all food, not only Thai, but ran out of editing time.

So yes I do mean all food.

Regrets for the initial error.

[KarenBravo]

It's the only food I eat...........preferably from a virgin.

 

Count D.

[edgarfriendly]

ill eat a rare steak or even a blue steak if its good quality meat.

 

but blood for the sake of it, nah!

[Patong2021]

Use of blood in food dates back to the time when meat was for the wealthy and all that the poor could afford were the undesirable cuts, and leftovers.  In recent times, food processors have tried to rebrand plasma and blood as something acceptable- remember the hamburger chain that had the PR problem when it was exposed as using "pink slurry"?  I find it a disgusting filler.

 

There is very good reason why we should avoid blood products in the food- it is called disease, especially in cultures/countries where food hygiene is not a priority.  Thankfully, there are muslims in Thailand and if I am worried about such unpleasant practices in an unknown city, I will  look for halal food. 

[jvs]

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

i usually do a precursory inspection most likely with a flashlight to avoid unintentional blood eating. 

My drill sergeant told me a long time ago when learning to eat bad looking things in the

jungle,

;if you can eat pxssy you can eat anything!!!!"

He was right.

[Jingthing]

36 minutes ago, edgarfriendly said:

ill eat a rare steak or even a blue steak if its good quality meat.

 

but blood for the sake of it, nah!

Steak is a common way for westerners to eat blood. Referring to the link in the OP Americans in particular are usually conditioned against eating blood and offal. Personally I think medium rare is best but if it arrives in a pool of blood I find that disgusting. 

 

As far as the reasons people have for being vegetarian, there are a number that are common and make some sense. I have yet to meet a vegetarian that says the main reason is to avoid eating blood.

Edited February 27, 2021 by Jingthing

[Smokin Joe]

Thinking the red juice in a rare steak is blood is a fallacy believed by lots of people. It's not blood.

 

"Even the rarest and reddest of steaks is actually bloodless. Instead, what you’re looking at is a combination of water, which makes up about 75 per cent of meat, and a protein found in muscle tissue called myoglobin. If that name sounds familiar, it’s probably because it sounds a bit like hemoglobin, the protein that transports oxygen in blood. Yes, there’s that word again, but myoglobin isn’t blood (honest!) – instead, its job is to transport oxygen through muscle.

 

Myoglobin looks like blood on your plate because, like hemoglobin, the iron in myoglobin turns red when it is exposed to oxygen."

 

That specific quote is from https://steakschool.com/learn/red-liquid-steak-plate-not-blood/

 

If you google it many other sources of the same info will come up.

 

And I'm one of the "Won't eat blood" group but love a good steak that's medium rare.

 

[Jingthing]

10 minutes ago, Smokin Joe said:

Thinking the red juice in a rare steak is blood is a fallacy believed by lots of people. It's not blood.

 

"Even the rarest and reddest of steaks is actually bloodless. Instead, what you’re looking at is a combination of water, which makes up about 75 per cent of meat, and a protein found in muscle tissue called myoglobin. If that name sounds familiar, it’s probably because it sounds a bit like hemoglobin, the protein that transports oxygen in blood. Yes, there’s that word again, but myoglobin isn’t blood (honest!) – instead, its job is to transport oxygen through muscle.

 

Myoglobin looks like blood on your plate because, like hemoglobin, the iron in myoglobin turns red when it is exposed to oxygen."

 

That specific quote is from https://steakschool.com/learn/red-liquid-steak-plate-not-blood/

 

If you google it many other sources of the same info will come up.

 

And I'm one of the "Won't eat blood" group but love a good steak that's medium rare.

 

Very interesting. Thanks for that. But that red pool under a very rare steak does look like blood so still disgusting.

[worgeordie]

Love Black Pudding, make it myself ,with dried blood from Holland,

even the wife loves it, but I think she would eat anything.

my daughter eats Thai congealed blood , (chicken) but will not eat Black Pudding.

regards Worgeordie

 

[jak2002003]

I don't go out of my way to eat blood or get a craving for it, but if it's there in front of me as part of a meal I love it.

 

My favourite is the blood soup or 'Leu' that has crispy garlic and herbs in it too. It's enjoyable to eat that with some local guys at a country bar around my village while having a few drinks.

 

I also eat the blood cakes in noodles or on the side of Kaw Man Gai, but I tend to chop it up and mix it with the rice as it does not have much taste on its own.

 

Of course, being from the UK I do love a few slices of black pudding with my fried breakfast too...mmm.

 

One of my favourite Thai foods is raw buffalo laab. I do purposely buy that from the market once a week.  

 

I enjoy trying different foods as well as the blood things. For example I love the soup with the boiled chicken feet in it, the live jumping shrimps (gung den) and also fried crickets with lime leaves are delicious. 

 

Gets me a bit when some farang seem snobby with food here and make comments like...'yuck we never eat chicken feet or intestines in the UK'. Fact is they do, and worse...it's just all mashed up into slop and put in processed sausages or chicken nuggets etc. 

 

 

Edited February 27, 2021 by jak2002003

[Mutt Daeng]

I eat Black Pud when the opportunity arises and blood cake in noodles.

To me, black pud is mandatory when I eat a 'Full English' breakfast in Pattaya. The more the merrier IMHO. In the UK, if there was a dart match in the pub/club (UK North East), then the "refreshments" for the players & supporters always included cold chunks of black pud/saveloy/tripe etc.

[BusyB]

Like a bit of black pudding, and happily eat hot German 'Blutwurst' either with Sauerkraut or  mash'n'peas. So in principle no probs.

But I can't see me eating something that's had fresh blood poured into it like a sauce or whatever ... I'd be too worried about hygiene/infection.

I don't know whether that's reasonable or not, but I wouldn't eat Hackepeter in Thailand either. (Raw seasoned minced pork with onions - goes great on bread.)

[BusyB]

3 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

I don't go out of my way to eat blood or get a craving for it, but if it's there in front of me as part of a meal I love it.

 

My favourite is the blood soup or 'Leu' that has crispy garlic and herbs in it too. It's enjoyable to eat that with some local guys at a country bar around my village while having a few drinks.

 

I also eat the blood cakes in noodles or on the side of Kaw Man Gai, but I tend to chop it up and mix it with the rice as it does not have much taste on its own.

 

Of course, being from the UK I do love a few slices of black pudding with my fried breakfast too...mmm.

 

One of my favourite Thai foods is raw buffalo laab. I do purposely buy that from the market once a week.  

 

I enjoy trying different foods as well as the blood things. For example I love the soup with the boiled chicken feet in it, the live jumping shrimps (gung den) and also fried crickets with lime leaves are delicious. 

 

Gets me a bit when some farang seem snobby with food here and make comments like...'yuck we never eat chicken feet or intestines in the UK'. Fact is they do, and worse...it's just all mashed up into slop and put in processed sausages or chicken nuggets etc. 

 

 

 

I just posted I wouldn't eat raw mince in Thailand, then saw your post - I'll keep an eye out for 'raw buffalo laab' and at least give it a try 555 ...

 

[PGSan]

13 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Offal too, except for liver.

Lots of blood to eat in a liver!

[PGSan]

11 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Eating some cooked meat is not the same thing as pouring in pure blood into a soup or salad or making a cake made of blood.

Yes it is pretty much exactly the same — go Veggies!

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, PGSan said:

Lots of blood to eat in a liver!

Out of sight out of mind. I'm thinking mostly of deli style chopped chicken liver.