Best non-hot "blood forward" dishes in LA - and where to find them?

Americas - USA West Los Angeles
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Friends -

My SO and I returned from a trip to Hawaii, and he regretted that he didn’t order dinuguan when he saw it on the menu of a Filipino restaurant we were at. He feels the best way to celebrate the holiday season is to find a good “blood forward” dish someplace - but one that’s not hot (pepper-spicy hot), because he knows that I’ve got some dietary issues with those.

We consider a “blood forward” dish to be any soup or stew that either has blood in the broth or liquid, or has blood sausage or blood cubes as a main ingredient. I’m aware of Korean dishes with soondae and I’ve seen some posts on some Vietnamese stews, but I’m sure the former are pretty spicy, and I’m not sure about the latter. TIA for recommendations.

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Soondae’s not spicy, at least none that I’ve had.

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Eighth Street Soondae is good.

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Barbacoa Ramirez in Arleta on the weekend mornings have moronga tacos.

Look for chao long at Vietnamese restaurants its offal porridge with blood cakes.

Tofu King has blood cakes.

X 2 8th Street Soondae.

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Thanks - my SO saw the menu and pictures of what they offer online, and he’s ready to go!

Greatly appreciate your response.

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Thanks - I think 8th Street Soondae is going to be our first destination, but I’m grateful for the other suggestions as well. Thanks again!

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taiwanese duck blood and stinky tofu stew at Orange Bistro is very good

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morongas at poncho’s tlayudas

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Blood clams (patas de mula) at Holbox

Edit: patas, not patos

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10

I wouldn’t call blood clams “blood forward” like soondae, morcilla, or Vietnamese blood jelly. Or does Holbox pair them with something bloody?

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I guess it is hemoglobin - hemoglobin makes up all of those dishes too but I think Mexican blood clam is far milder and less hemoglobin filled as their Chinese cousins which are… quite… bloody.

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by your definitions:

thai boat noodles, the secret ingredient (besides love) is beef blood. Pa Ord is cited as the classic, Sapp has a nice spin on it, but Mae Malai reigns supreme in LA right now.

otherwise, i’d say haejangguk (hangover stew). it’s best spicy, but i’m sure you can request low- or without-spice. Bulrocho’s a hole in the wall next to Park’s BBQ that has the best one. you can ask for extra seonji (congealed blood).

sidenote: N+M Song had a really good luu they abandoned for some reason. it was one of the better things on the menu

[edit: a quick search shows several places you can get dinuguan in LA. i can’t vouch for any of them, though; my Filipino food game is lacking]

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Thanks!

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Whether or not they are really “blood forward,” they sound interesting, and worth eventually checking out. Much thanks @robert @Starchtrade.

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Lots of good ideas here - I should note that I haven’t had the best of luck asking some restaurants to do their dishes low or non-spicy, but I can always keep trying

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The morongas look amazing - great suggestion.

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17

Blood clams can be good, but the ones I had in Mexico didn’t taste like blood, or even like rare / raw meat.

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I’ll second Korean soondae and Taiwanese pig blood cake as blood forward dishes that aren’t spicy…and very good.