“The toughest dish in the world” – literally – it is one traditional street food in China with stones as a key ingredient.

The consumers it is supposed that they suck on the small stones to enjoy the rich and spicy taste of the dishoriginating from the eastern Chinese province Hubei. The directive provides a they soak up the flavors and then spit out the stones – hence the dish’s name suodiu, which means ‘suck in and throw out’.

Street vendors cook the unusual dish by pouring chili oil onto sizzling pebbles on a teppanyaki-style grill, sprinkling garlic sauce all over, then deep-frying everything with a mixture of garlic cloves and diced peppers.

The marinated stones are served in small boxes and each portion costs about 16 yuan (about 2 euros).

Suodiu is believed to date back hundreds of years. It was passed down for generations by boatmen through their oral history, according to a local media report. In the past, boatmen could get stranded in the middle of a river and run out of food while delivering goods.

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