Taipei’s Extra-Long Pig Blood Cake Comes Coated in Peanuts and Cilantro

Pig blood cake (豬血糕) is a common Taiwanese street snack made by combining pork blood with sticky rice and steaming the mixture into a firm slab. Despite the English name, it is savory rather than a dessert. Vendors commonly serve it hot on a wooden skewer, coating it with sauce before adding peanut powder and chopped cilantro.

Zhu Dalang (豬大郎) began as a small stall on Neihu’s 737 Lane, a night-market street in Taipei, and later expanded through franchise locations. Its version stands out for its length. Mirror Media described the Neihu skewer as more than 20 centimeters long, while a 2021 photo essay about a Taishan franchise measured one serving at 24 centimeters.

The older photos also document how the snack is assembled. A long piece of pig blood cake is covered with a dark, glossy sauce and placed directly into a large container of peanut powder mixed with cilantro. More peanut powder is then worked over the surface until nearly the entire skewer is coated. The finished snack keeps its elongated shape, with the sauce, crushed peanuts, and chopped herbs visible from end to end.

On May 1, 2026, the original Neihu stall raised the price of one skewer from NT$45 to NT$50. Its posted notice attributed the increase to rising ingredient and operating costs. According to the Mirror Media report, the price had already moved from NT$40 to NT$45 before reaching NT$50, amounting to two increases within two years. A 2021 photo essay recorded NT$35 for one or NT$100 for three at the Taishan franchise. Those figures do not establish what the Neihu stall charged at the same time, but they help explain why several commenters remembered three-for-NT$100 deals or even an NT$25 price in 2009.

Not everyone considered NT$50 excessive. Some commenters argued that Zhu Dalang’s skewer remained larger than pig blood cake sold at many other night markets, and they praised its springy texture instead of the overly soft texture that can result from prolonged steaming. The disagreement was less about whether the snack was still popular than about what now counts as inexpensive street food after several rounds of price increases.