Bloody delicious?

It wasn’t so long ago that humans hunted for their own food and when it came to eating the catch every last bit of it that could be eaten would be – that, of course, included the blood.

Blood from a healthy animal is highly nutritious as it’s full of protein and nutrients but it is also a bit out of fashion. Most westerners I know would balk at the idea of slurping down tiet canh (congealed blood soup) on the sidewalk in Vietnam. While some might see it as the act of a barbarian, if not a vampire, many people in Vietnam still consider it a delicacy.

Tiet canh is made from duck, goose or sometimes pig blood and is garnished with ginger, herbs and peanuts – its basically fresh blood placed in a fridge to slowly, gently congeal. It is seen as a fine accompaniment for drinking ruou (rice liquor) as well as a protein rich food. It is also believed by certain people to be an aphrodisiac – though you might ask what isn’t in Vietnam!

But tiet canh isn’t for everyone, even in the north of Vietnam where it’s considered a regional delicacy. Since the advent of bird flu it’s also supposed to be illegal, although you can still find it sold outside Hanoi.

“I once saw a man cut the neck of a duck to make tiet canh. It was awful! I’ve never tasted it and I never will. My friends keep saying that it tastes like jelly but sweeter. But I smelt it once and nearly threw up as it stank,” said Phuong Mai, a university student from Hanoi.

“Oh come on, don’t talk with her, she’s not a food lover,” says Thang, Mai’s friend.

“I love it, especially if you have it with all the extras like crushed roasted peanuts, chopped mint leaf or roasted rice pancake to scoop it up. It goes really good with bee too!”

“I know it’s illegal but chickens and ducks are sold everywhere so why is tiet canh forbidden? It’s ridiculous to ban it. My customers keep coming to my place every day and so far I’ve received no complaints,” said a tiet canh stall owner in Ha Tay province, just past the Hanoi city limits.

“Well, tiet canh is a favourite dish of mine but it’s amoral to still serve it when the bird flu is still on going,” wrote one Viet kieu blogger in a recent post. “I hope one day I can have tiet canh or anything with duck again.”

Source VIR