Stir-fried bricks are China’s latest street food craze

Hong Kong –

Dubbed “the hardest dish in the world” – literally – a traditional stir-fry with stones as the main ingredient has sparked culinary curiosity on Chinese social media.

Patrons are believed to suck on the small rocks to enjoy the rich and spicy flavor of the dish, which originated in eastern China’s Hubei province.

They are instructed to soak up the flavors and then spit out the stones – hence the name of the dish suodiuwhich means ‘suck and throw away’.

Videos of internet users tasting suodiu have surfaced all over Chinese social media platforms over the past week.

They also show how street vendors prepare the unusual dish. Vendors pour chili oil on pebbles sizzling on a teppanyaki-style grill, drizzle garlic sauce over the top, and stir-fry everything with a mix of garlic cloves and diced peppers.

As they prepare the ingredients, these street chefs sometimes narrate their every move with rhymes, according to videos posted on Xiaohongshu, the Chinese equivalent of Instagram.

“A portion of spice brings the passion to life,” the chef said in a video, adding that the dish is just as popular as alcohol.

Customers are then served the flavored stones in palm-sized boxes. Each serving costs about 16 yuan (US$2.30) according to the video.

“Should I return the pebbles to you after I’m done?” asked a customer in the same clip.

“Bring them home as a souvenir,” joked the chef.

Suodiu is believed to be hundreds of years old. It was passed down through generations of boatmen through their oral histories, according to a local media report.

In the past, boatmen could become stranded in the middle of a river and run out of food while delivering goods.

To “find happiness in the bitterness,” the report said, they would find stones to cook with other spices to make a dish.