Скачать или смотреть Internet goes gaga for gigantic pig’s blood cakes lying by the road in Yilan

An astonishing roadside scene has taken Taiwan’s social media by storm. Photos appearing online seem to show four gigantic pig’s blood cakes lying by the road in Yilan. Pig’s blood cake is one of Taiwan’s most well-known and traditional savory snacks. But these cakes are 100 times larger than the norm, and they’re lying on a farmer’s field at the side of the road. What’s going on? We went down to the farm to investigate.

At first glance, it looks like four giant pig’s blood cakes laid out by the side of the road. They’re covered in peanut shaving and coriander, just like a pig’s blood cake should be. The classic Taiwanese delicacy is even presented with two enormous toothpicks.

Photos of the astonishing sight have proliferated online. The cakes are not at a night market stall but on a farm. Is this a unique farmer’s stall? Actually, it’s a carefully decorated bed for growing vegetables.

You wouldn’t realize at first. It really looks like a pig’s blood cake blown up 100 times.

But the peanut shavings are rice bran, while vegetable shoots are the coriander leaves. Water tubes for toothpicks are the finishing touch in the illusion.

Miss Huang
Sister-in-law of farmer
The owner of the farm has been growing vegetables like this for ages. It’s just nobody noticed before. We all grow vegetables with rice husks on top pressing the soil down. It prevents birds from taking the seeds, and stops the rain from washing the soil away.

The farmer didn’t set out deliberately to build a gigantic pig’s blood cake. The raised rectangular beds stop water from pooling, which could cause crops to rot. The rice husks laid on top serve as mulch to protect the seeds, as well as compost. The resemblance to Taiwan’s beloved carnivorous cake is an amazing coincidence.