Stone soup: These stir-fried river rocks are going viral on Chinese social media

Pics/Instagram

Suodiu is a bizarre type of Chinese street food that consists of small river rocks stir-fried with a mixture of spices and herbs. You are supposed to suck on the stones and then spit them out. Roughly translated as "suck and throw away", suodiu is believed to have been invented hundreds of years ago by boatmen who would prepare the dish when they became stranded in the middle of the river, with no real food while delivering goods.

To trick their stomachs, they would stir-fry some river pebbles with various condiments and then suck the stones dry. The traditional dish was passed down through several generations, and today roadside vendors in China can sometimes be seen stir-frying bunches of river rocks with chilli oil, garlic sauce, garlic cloves and a mixture of spices.

A series of videos showing the preparation of suodiu at roadside stalls have recently gone viral on Xiaohongshu, China's version of Instagram, sparking the curiosity of millions. It wasn't only the peculiarity of the dish that intrigued viewers, but also the steep price of 16 yuan (Rs 182.64) per serving, considering that there is hardly any edible stuff in it.

Suodiu consists of river rocks coated in this spicy dressing that you're supposed to suck off of the rocks before spitting the hard pebbles out. Some wouldn't even call that a meal, let alone pay money for it. However, it's important to note that river rocks are used because they apparently acquire the taste of marine life with time, so while sucking on them, you get the taste of fish combined with the spices.

Sea devil!

An extremely rare pregnant ‘devil shark' was caught near Taiwan

You never know what you might catch while trolling in the deep. Commercial anglers made waves in science circles after snagging a super rare, nearly 2,000-pound "goblin shark" while trawling for fish off the coast of Taiwan.

PIC/FACEBOOK

"It belongs to the prehistoric shark family and is a very rare living fossil," said representatives of the Taiwan Ocean Artistic Museum, which recently purchased the behemoth bycatch. "This species has translucent skin, a pink body, and evil fangs."

This particular specimen was allegedly caught by an Australian trawler off Su'ao Township, which is located 45 miles southeast of Taipei. Also known as the "devil shark," the ghoulish-looking goblin shark is 15.4 feet-long and weighs around 1,763 pounds.

When you are stuck, and you can't slide

A Malaysian man has gone viral after posting a video of himself getting stuck in a waterslide earlier this month. The TikTok, which has been viewed nearly 43 million times, shows the man - who goes by Jami - with his arms crossed as the trap door he's standing on opens and shoots him into the plastic tunnel.

PIC CREDIT/ YOUTUBE

While the dizzying footage initially shows Jami traversing the slide with ease, the man is later seen abruptly stopping in his tracks about halfway down the slide before once again picking up speed. Coming to another stop, the alarmed-looking waterpark goer attempted to crawl through the cramped space while yelling for help. Thankfully, his cries were heard as the top portion of the slide was ripped open by an employee of the park who came to save the man.

Husband reviews wife

A man has been slammed for giving his wife a bizarre written "performance review" for her job as a stay-at-home mum. The man explained that he was concerned about his wife's favouritism towards one of their children.

The diaper dilemma

According to multiple sources in Switzerland, students as old as 11 years old are coming to school in diapers, and teachers are expected to clean and change them if necessary. Schools are informing parents that children have to be "dry" when they return to school.

Holy cow!

A Bible School at an Alabama church was interrupted by a visit from a cow on the run from police. The bovine then headed to the Taylor Road Baptist Church, where Senior Pastor Daniel Atkins was alerted to its presence. About 200 kids were inside the church.