This street vendor in China offers stir-fried pebbles with garlic and chili

There is no shortage of bizarre culinary pairings in the globe; you can find a ton of them online, from chocolate Maggi to ice-cream samosas. Some turn out to be successful, while others are a total failure. The internet has just discovered stir-fried pebbles, an odd culinary item available at a food stand at a Chinese night market.

The South China Morning Post reports that the video posted on Chinese social media on Sunday showed a seller selling stir-fried tiny river pebbles with chilli, garlic, purple perilla, and rosemary in the Hunan region of central China. Each serving of the dish costs 16 Yuan (Rs 184).

The merchant claims that the stones are offered to enhance the flavor of other foods rather than being eaten and sucked on. But that’s not all; when the meal is completed, the diners may preserve the remaining pebbles and prepare them whatever they choose for subsequent meals.

The proprietor of the food stand said, “Pass the stones for three generations. The stones will remain even if you are no longer there.

You would assume that this is a new meal from the street seller, but to your surprise, it is a long-standing tradition from the Hubei region in central China.

Suo Diu, which translates to “suck and throw away” in English, is the name of the dish, according to a report by Guangming Daily. It was created by hungry boatmen along the Yangtze River in its original form. The stones supposedly tasted like fish and paired nicely with wine.

The tradition of eating stir-fried pebbles while drinking is still practiced by certain old people in Hubei province, according to another online user. The meal was also a custom in the Yunnan region of southern China during the difficulties of the Sino-Japanese war, which lasted from 1937 to 1945.