Pig’s Blood Is Back on Singapore Menus After 27 Years — But Will Younger Diners Actually Eat It?

SINGAPORE — A food that disappeared from Singaporean bowls for nearly three decades is making an unexpected comeback.

Pig’s blood curd is back.

Once a familiar ingredient in traditional dishes such as pig-organ soup and kway chap, pig’s blood was removed from Singapore’s food scene following the 1999 Nipah virus outbreak.

Now, after years of regulatory review and new food-safety requirements, approved heat-treated pig’s blood products are once again being sold in Singapore.

But there is a bigger question behind the comeback:

After 27 years, does Singapore still have an appetite for it?

From Everyday Food to Forbidden Ingredient

For generations of Singaporeans, pig’s blood was not considered unusual.

At Koh Brother Pig’s Organ Soup at Tiong Bahru Market, it was once a signature ingredient. Fresh pig’s blood would arrive at the stall, be allowed to set into soft curds and then be sliced, blanched and added to bowls of Teochew-style soup.

For third-generation hawker Thomas Koh, who was 11 when the ban was introduced, the ingredient remains closely tied to childhood memories and his family's food business.

He described the blood curd as rich and savoury, with a texture similar to tofu.

Then came 1999.

The Nipah Outbreak Changed Everything

Singapore recorded its first Nipah virus patient on March 13, 1999, during an outbreak that was eventually linked to infected pigs imported from Malaysia.

The disease caused severe neurological illness and, in some cases, death.

Singapore subsequently suspended imports of live pigs from Malaysia and halted the supply and consumption of pig blood as a precaution.

The food-safety concern was significant.

Raw animal blood could potentially contain viruses or bacteria if the animal was infected, while traditional preparation methods involved allowing the blood to set at room temperature before only limited heating.

The outbreak fundamentally changed Singapore's relationship with the ingredient.

Pig's blood disappeared from local menus.

And for younger generations, it effectively disappeared from memory.

Now It's Back — But Under Very Different Rules

The comeback does not mean Singapore has simply restored the old system.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) conducted risk assessments in 2018 and subsequently introduced requirements governing the safe collection and processing of animal blood intended for food.

In April 2026, SFA approved heat-treated pig's blood from Bangkhla Pig Slaughterhouse in Thailand.

It was the first application approved under the new requirements.

The production process is dramatically different from the traditional method remembered by older hawkers.

At the Thai slaughterhouse, the blood is collected through a closed pipeline immediately after slaughter, filtered, placed into trays and steamed for 45 minutes to eliminate pathogens.

The resulting curds are then chilled and packaged for export.

In other words, the product returning to Singapore is not the same raw blood product that disappeared in 1999.

It is an industrially processed food product subject to regulatory controls and health certification.

You Can Already Find It in Singapore

The newly approved pig's blood curd is now available at selected supermarkets, hawker stalls and hotpot chains, including Haidilao, according to the reporting.

For diners who remember the ingredient from before the ban, its return may feel like a piece of Singapore's culinary past coming back to life.

For younger Singaporeans, however, it can look like something completely unfamiliar.

And that could be the biggest obstacle to its revival.

The "Ew" Factor

Food preferences are not determined purely by taste.

They are shaped by memory, culture, presentation and what people grow up considering normal.

Someone raised eating pig's blood may see it as an ordinary source of protein.

Someone encountering it for the first time may see something entirely different.

That generational gap is already visible among Singapore's younger diners.

Third-generation hawker Thomas Koh said he has seen younger customers become increasingly willing to try traditional organ dishes such as intestines.

But he remains hesitant about putting pig's blood back into his family's signature soup.

The ingredient itself costs money, and introducing it could increase the price of each bowl.

More importantly, he questions whether younger customers would accept it.

After almost 30 years without it, the food may be legal again — but the taste for it cannot simply be restored by changing the regulations.

Singaporeans Never Really Stopped Eating "Unusual" Foods

Yet the idea that Singaporeans have abandoned organ meats and unconventional ingredients would be misleading.

Across the city, diners continue to seek out foods that might make less adventurous eaters hesitate.

In Little India, brain masala made with goat brain remains popular.

At traditional Chinese restaurants, dishes featuring intestines, pork heart and other organ meats continue to attract loyal customers.

And at newer restaurants such as Dirty Supper in Tiong Bahru, whole-animal cooking has turned ingredients such as pork heart, kidney, tongue and other less commonly ordered cuts into contemporary dining experiences.

The difference may be how those ingredients are presented.

A food considered old-fashioned or "disgusting" in one setting can suddenly become adventurous or sustainable when presented as part of a modern dining concept.

The Bigger Battle: Can Singapore Preserve Its Food Heritage?

The return of pig's blood raises a much bigger question about Singapore's food culture.

As the country becomes wealthier and food choices become increasingly global, some traditional ingredients are disappearing.

Offal and organ meats can be labour-intensive to clean and prepare.

Younger diners may also prefer dishes that are faster, more familiar and easier to recognise.

Meanwhile, Singapore is positioning itself as a hub for alternative proteins and food technology, including cultivated meat and other novel foods.

That creates an unusual contrast.

Singapore is looking toward the future of food while simultaneously trying to preserve ingredients from its culinary past.

A Food Can Disappear Without Anyone Banning It

Pig's blood demonstrates how quickly a food can vanish from a culture.

In 1999, the ingredient disappeared because of a legitimate public-health concern.

Nearly three decades later, the technology and regulatory framework have changed enough for an approved version to return.

But the people have changed too.

A whole generation grew up without seeing pig's blood in their soup.

That means bringing it back is not simply a matter of regulatory approval.

It is a matter of memory, identity and taste.

For some Singaporeans, the return will be nostalgic.

For others, it may be their first encounter with a food their parents or grandparents once considered completely ordinary.

And for hawkers such as Koh, the question is perhaps the most difficult one of all:

Can an ingredient that disappeared for 27 years become part of Singapore's food culture again — or has an entire generation simply learned to live without it?

WWC ONE MEDIA J.M.D