CHINESE FOOD TREND: STIR-FRY ROCKS

There is a new food trend circulating on Chinese social media: stir-fried rocks. In Chinese, it’s called suodiu, meaning “suck and dispose.” (* Hey, that’s my nickname!) Street vendors pour chili oil onto small, flat, rounded pebbles that are sitting on a grill, sprinkle garlic sauce all over them, then stir-fry everything with a mix of garlic cloves and diced peppers. Customers receive a box of pebbles – they are supposed to suck off all the flavor and then spit them out. Each portion costs about 16 yuan (US$2.30).
* North Korea just called, asking for the recipe.
* Watch where you spit, you could cause a concussion.
* This might catch on over here, if you flavored the pebbles and then battered and deep-fried them.
* Fans of the food say it’s delicious. Well, they think that’s what they say; they have no teeth left.
* Sucking on rocks is a new fad now, but it won’t be long before people take it for granite.