KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — Fancy trying a bizarre type of Chinese street food consisting of stir-fried small river rocks?

You can have a taste of it by forking out 16 yuan (RM10) for the dish, called suodiu, that is cooked with a mix of spices and herbs, Oddity Central reported.

The dish is now viral on social media after it was shared on Xiaohongshu, China’s version of Instagram.

As to how the dish is enjoyed, a seller in one of the clips shared on the platform said the stones are to be sucked before being spit out.

According to the portal, suodiu is believed to have been invented centuries ago by boatmen after being stranded in the river with no food.

To trick their hungry stomach, the boatmen stir-fried river pebbles with condiments before sucking on it.

The recipe was then passed on through generations and today, roadside vendors in China are selling it by stir-frying river rocks with chilli oil, garlic sauce, garlic cloves and a mixture of spices.

As to why only river rocks are used, it is said it had acquired the taste of marine life, so when sucking on them, you would get the taste of fish combined with the spices.

If you are wondering whether the river rocks are returned to the seller after completion of the meal, vendors have graciously allowed customers to bring it home as souvenirs.