Cooking with blood

[Eric_Malson]

I have been thinking that one of these days I would like to try my hand at making one of my very favorite Portuguese dishes, galinha de cabidela. This is basically a stew of chicken and rice, with the chicken having first been stewed in its giblets, and the whole thing is finished with chicken blood. I was talking about this with Sam Kinsey, who mentioned there was a live market in Harlem that had live chickens. When I asked him if he thought they would kill (and hopefully pluck!) the chicken for me and give me the blood along with it so I could make this dish, he raised a very good question: "Wouldn't the blood coagulate if it sits around a while?"

Would it? I have no idea, since I've never cooked with blood and don't know anyone who has. If so, how long does one have before it does?

And while I'm at it, does anyone know any other sources for chickens+blood in NYC? I'd like to know what all the options are!

[Jason Perlow]

I know two brothers, both who are avid fans of fine living and fine dining and quite familiar with blood, who's last known whereabouts were in the greater Mosul metro area that could have answered that question, but I've had some problems reaching them since yesterday...

[Shiewie]

I haven't cooked with blood but have seen it being cooked.

My paternal grandmother used to rear her own chickens and whenever a chicken was slaughtered the blood would usually be saved in a bowl and left to coagulate - it's probably took 1/2 hour or so - can't quite remember as this was many years ago. The coagulated blood would then be sliced and cooked in soup.

Here are a couple of links to recipes which use blood and salt or vinegar is added to the blood to stop it from coagulating -

Chicken Blood Rice

Blood Pudding

[Adam Balic]

Depending on what you are cooking you may or may not want the blood to clot. The clotting factors can be removed by beating the blood with a whisk or a wooden spoon if you have the arm stamina. You can also add vinegar, wine or lemon juice, but this will alter the taste. Another trick is to put the fresh blood into a bottle with some raw rice and shake the bottle for 15 minutes.

[SobaAddict70]

Ditto what Adam said. Pig's blood is an essential ingredient for dinuguan, a stew of pork and offal cooked with pig's blood, vinegar, garlic and chiles. The pig's blood is usually added after the meat has been browned but before the vinegar is added. I usually add a couple of T. of vinegar to the container to halt the coagulation.

Soba

[ballast_regime]

Human blood? I'm not saying I have, but I'm not saying I haven't.

IML

b/r

[Eric_Malson]

Thanks, all....that gives me a plan should I ever get off my ass and go find someone willing to sell me a plucked and cleaned chicken AND its blood!

Still open to suggestions on where the best place (in NYC) to do this might be. I guess I want to avoid going there (I don't actually know where this live market in Harlem is, much less how to call them to ask ahead of time) only to find out they won't give me my blood for whatever reason.

[Holly Moore]

Cooking with blood, Anyone done it?

Yes, but not intentionally

[Wimpy]

A somewhat related question- I finally found some boudin noir in Singapore. Does anyone know how to cook it? What does it go with? I'm guessing braised sauerkraut and some bread.

Edited July 28, 2003 by Wimpy (log)

[arjay]

Anyone who knowingly eats blood should be hit with a hammer.

[Bicycle Lee]

Plucking and gutting a chicken isn't that bad of an experience. You can do it yourself and impress the Harlem chicken monger...

[Chloe]

In Portugal, some vinegar or wine is added to (or already in) the bowl for the blood.

Ready-packed supermarket free-range chickens here (at least in the north of Portugal) are now sold with a little bag of blood alongside the pack of giblets/feet/(head).

Chloe

(who has no country chicken in her freezer at the moment, because the last one escaped before it could be "dealt with" )

[Adam Balic]

Anyone who knowingly eats blood should be hit with a hammer.

Why?

[Bux]

Anyone who knowingly eats blood should be hit with a hammer.

I'm offended, or at least maybe I don't understand the comment. It's highly unlikely that either my wife or I will spend much time in France and Spain without at least one of us ordering blood sausage. In Sevilla, this spring, we discovered "sangre," which seems closely related to duck blood, something we eat regularly in NYC's Chinatown. Polish butcher shops are another source of a different kind of blood sausage I enjoy in NY. Caribean islands whose culinary heritage is either French or Spanish are other good places to find excellent blood sausage. I can vouce for both Martinique and Puerto Rico. I also understand that blood pudding is a part of a traditional English or Irish full breakfast.

[slkinsey]

Anyone who knowingly eats blood should be hit with a hammer.

I'm offended, or at least maybe I don't understand the comment.

I think he means that eating blood is so delicious that these people should be hit with a hammer so the rest of us might feast upon their deliciously flavored blood. Or maybe I'm misreading it myself...

[Suzy]

My Grandma used to make duck's blood soup. I can't remember the proper Polish word for it, as Grandma has been gone a long time.

It was the most disgusting smell on the planet, but her and Grandpa used to love it.