Peoples of all nations, particularly in times of hardship, wasted no part of an animal and incorporated offal regularly into their diet. They learned to prize the flavours and textures contributed by tripe, liver, kidney and so on. In olden times the Macanese also ate parts of animals that today some might find challenging. Here is an old Macanese dish for some to try.

1 lb | 450g pork belly
1 pig’s heart
1 bundle of tripe
½ lb | 225g pork liver
1 lb | 450g pork blood*
1 onion
1 dried onion
4 bay leaves
cumin powder
coriander powder
turmeric powder
1 pinch of 5-spice powder

This is prepared in three steps.
First step. Wash the blood twice in cold water, beating with a spoon. When this is done, scald and pour off the water. Add a teaspoon of vinegar and immediately cook in lard in a pan. Remove from the heat and wash the pan for the third step.
Second step. Wash and cut the heart in two, season with salt and pepper. Wash the tripe, pass a clove of garlic from one end to the other, and cut into two pieces. Season the pork belly in salt and pepper. Fry these three ingredients in the same casserole, add enough water to cover, and cook until tender.
Third step. Put a generous amount of lard in a pan and gently fry these together in a saucepan, add enough water to cook them and simmer until soft.
Put enough lard in a pot to fry the onions, dried onions, cumin, coriander and turmeric and, when they exude a wonderful smell, add the liver and the pork meat, heart and tripe, and finally the blood and bay leaves. (Optionally, add several slices of lemon.) All the ingredients are sliced fine when cooked.