You ever heard of Pebble Soup? Named as Suodio and translated as suck and throw. Maybe Yes!
Soups are helpful in making your body nutrients dense. They do not contain high calorie rate that’s why they also help lose weight. Soups also make your stomach fuller. Many countries are famous for their soups like Spain for Gazpacho, Morocco for Harira, Laksa from Malaysia and Minestrone from Italy are loved by millions of people.
But we certainly are not talking about these soups as today we are going to talk about a new trendy soup called pebbles soup. It is especially served on the Chinese festive occasions. In fact, we are referring to “Suodio” that is translated as “Suck and throw”.
If you follow tik tok, this soup is coming into a lots of videos, going trendy all over the world. These days, nothing can stay hidden from social media whether it be politician’s illegal properties, secret affairs or celeb’s exotic diet. So this pebbles soup discovered by ancient Chinese boatmen is surfacing once again.
Origin Of Pebble Soup
The origin of pebble soup is China, the land of bizarre food.
From eating camel’s hoof to duck’s tongue, and from frogs to bird’s nest soup China has always left everyone in a big surprise with their very unique choices of food. With a population of 1.5 billion people, they are always experimenting with their cuisine and of course, their cuisine is very unusual for the rest of the world. Maybe that’s why China has lot of food delicacies that are specific to Chinese cuisine.
People are eating gold flakes in ice creams and Chinese are using pebbles in soups. And that’s make them different among other. If you are thinking these Chinese people eat those river stones too. Then you are wrong here. They just use them for their rich marine flavor. Suck their delicious taste and then throw them. That’s why it is translated as Suodio.
People are not naming this soup the most delicious or easy soup but “The World’s Hardest Soup” and no wonder why? (because the pebbles are hard.)
The Interesting History Of Pebble Soup
The internet has very interesting tale about the history of pebbles soup. Back in time when travelling was not an easy task and used to take days and weeks to reach a single destination. Food was not always feasible for travelers. Chinese boatmen who used to travel for many days had no electrical equipment, frozen foods or preservatives present to preserve food for days and weeks.
They had to hunt on fishes and other marine life to fulfil their hunger. But sometimes they were not lucky enough to catch one. So they started to add pebbles to their food. Yes, you are reading it right. Those boatmen used to add river pebbles to their food. From here the famous “Chinese Pebbles Soup” originated and later it became common for Chinese people.
Ingredients
As the river stones are the main ingredient, you might be worrying about its weird taste but you do not have to. Because as time passes by, the stones adopt the taste of its surrounding marine life and do not taste like original mud at all. However, the soup also contains some vegetables, added with chilli oil, rosemary and garlic for enhancing the flavor of soup. So the overall taste of soup is unique.
Here’s the list of all the ingredients used in it:
- River stones 1kg
- Chopped onion 1 cup
- Sliced garlic 1TSP
- Ginger paste 1TSP
- Green pepper ½ cup
- Red pepper ½ cup
- Dried red chilli 1TSP
- Soy Sauce 2TSP
- Hoisin Sauce 1TSP
- Salt ½ TSP or to the taste
- Liquid Starch 40 ml
- Ground Pepper ½ TSP
- Cilantro 1/3 cup
- Chilli Oil 2TSP
Recipe Of Pebble Soup
- Soak river stones for 10 minutes in the salt water and then rinse them with fresh water.
- Put chilli oil in a pan add chopped garlic and ginger paste and stir them for half a minute.
- Then add green chilli, red chilli pepper, chopped onion and dried chilli powder to the pan.
- Saute all of above mentioned vegetables and then add pebbles to this mixture.
- Now you need to add dark soy sauce, salt, hoisin sauce and ground pepper and stir them for 2 minutes.
- Add liquid starch to the pan for a thick texture of the soup and then let it thicken.
- At last, add fresh cilantro and rosemary for a beautiful garnishing touch. Serve this soup hot in a bowl.
This is a street food right now in China and costs 14-16 Chinese Yuan( Approximately 2 US Dollars).
What Happens If You Eat Rocks And Stones?
The most common query that can arise in your mind is, what happens if you accidently or intentionally eat pebbles in soup? Is pebble soup health friendly at all?
Well, first of all you don’t eat these pebbles you just suck, get the taste, and throw the pebbles. Eating pebbles can be dangerous to your health. Apart from choking, it can severely damage your body organs. Also, keep in mind that pebbles are not that tiny to pass easily through digestive tract. So be careful, especially with kids while having this soup.
In conclusion, if you have not tried it yet, you must give it a try for its very unique and flavorful experience. And let your friends know about your peculiar experience of trying Chinese cuisine. Because life is all about exploring new and different things. Whether it is culture, places or food. Adding Pebble soup in your list is a gateway to new experience… Whoa. Suck it guys…And throw it too…