Study Buddy (Explorer): Stir-fried pebbles with seasoning in China goes viral, with its origins surprise people
- Many consider this dish – made with river rocks, chilli, garlic, perilla and rosemary – to be among China’s strangest regional dishes
- Each week, this page presents an interesting story that we have adjusted to be more accessible for all English learners
According to the vendor, the pebbles are not meant to be eaten – just sucked on. Photo: BaiduContent provided by British Council
Read the following text, and answer questions 1-9 below:
[1] Mainland social media has been rocked by the discovery that stir-fried pebbles are being sold at a food stall at a night market in China. A video on Douyin shows a street vendor in the central Chinese province of Hunan stir-frying small river rocks with chilli, garlic, purple perilla and rosemary. He sells each dish for 16 yuan (HK$17.42). The clip was posted on June 4 and has attracted 4 million views on the app.
[2] According to the vendor, the pebbles are not meant to be eaten – just sucked on. Their purpose is to complement the taste of the other ingredients. And after the meal is finished, diners can save the leftover pebbles and cook them with whatever ingredients they want for future meals. The cheeky food stall owner joked: “Pass on the pebbles for three generations. You may be gone, but the pebbles will still be there.”
[3] Online observers were stunned by the weird delicacy. They described it as “the hardest dish in the world”. “It might be true that as long as the seasoning is good, even stir-fried shoe soles can be a delicacy,” one person shared. “Sounds like a perfect dish for dieting,” said another.
[4] People were even more surprised when it was revealed that stir-fried pebbles are not a new innovation. They are actually a traditional dish from central China’s Hubei province with a history that goes back hundreds of years. According to a report in the Guangming Daily, the dish is known as suo diu, which means “suck and throw away” in English. It originated along the Yangtze River and was invented by boatmen who were running out of food. It was said that the pebbles tasted like fish and went well with wine.
[5] An online observer from Hubei province said some elderly people in the countryside continued this practice today, “eating” stir-fried pebbles while drinking. The dish was also a tradition in southwestern China’s Yunnan province after it became popular because of the hardships of the Sino-Japanese war from 1937 to 1945.
[6] Many consider stir-fried pebbles to be one of the strangest regional dishes in China, but they have some competition. Another is Beijing’s dou zhi which has centuries of history. This fermented mung bean milk has a grey-green colour. The drink tastes sour and stinky, but locals enjoy the protein it has and its ability to relieve heat. Another strange dish is sipunculid worm jelly from Fujian province in southeastern China. The delicacy is made by boiling worms that have been harvested along the coast.
Source: South China Morning Post, June 12
Questions
1. Find a phrase in paragraph 1 that refers to “a person who sells things outside from a stall”.
2. From the list below, choose the edible ingredients that are used in this dish, according to paragraph 1. (3 marks)
garlic, river rocks, chilli, perilla leaves
3. According to paragraph 2, how should the dish be enjoyed?
4. What does the stall owner suggest diners do after they have finished the meal in paragraph 2?
5. What does the “weird delicacy” in paragraph 3 refer to?
6. Decide whether the following statements about stir-fried pebbles are True, False or the information is Not Given in paragraphs 4 and 5. (4 marks)
(i) The dish has been around for thousands of years.
(ii) It was invented by boatmen who did not have enough food to eat.
(iii) The pebbles taste best when they are boiled with ginger and soy sauce.
(iv) The dish was “eaten” by people in Yunnan province during the Sino-Japanese war.
7. What is one popular way of consuming the dish according to paragraph 5?
8. In paragraph 6, why might some people dislike fermented mung bean milk?
9. How does sipunculid worm jelly taste according to paragraph 6?
A. sour and acidic
B. soft and buttery
C. sweet and nutty
D. information not given
Answers
1. street vendor
2. garlic; chilli; perilla leaves
3. by sucking on the pebbles
4. keep the pebbles and pass them on to their children; save the pebbles and use them in another dish (accept similar answers)
5. stir-fried pebbles
6. (i) F; (ii) T; (iii) NG; (iv) T
7. to have it while drinking
8. because it tastes sour and stinky
9. D