"Take it and feed it to the pigs."
If you have pigs at home, you will find that many things that we can't eat, or that we don't eat, can be used to feed the pigs.
And corn cob is one of them.
But in South Korea, corn cobs have become a delicacy in their mouths, and even the price is not cheap.
Why is the corn cob, which is mediocre on the mainland, so high in South Korea?
The humble "corn cob"
The corn cob, a very inconspicuous thing, is the cob left over after the ears of corn have been threshed.
Compared to wheat, harvesting corn seems to be a very troublesome task.
Because not only does it have skin on the outside, but the corn kernels also need to be removed from the corn cob.
In the eighties and nineties, the technology at that time was not so developed, and when people harvested corn, they relied entirely on "pure handwork".
The family braved the sun to drill into a field of corn taller than a human and began to break the corn off the stalk and throw it onto a tricycle.
When the tricycle is full, the corn is delivered to the open space at home.
At this time, the work of "breaking the corn" begins, and people will sit in the corn pile and peel off the corn husks after eating.
After a while, the corn kernels are broken off the cob, and although there were threshing machines at the time, most people still choose to peel the corn kernels by hand.
These corn kernels can be sold for money, and the remaining corn cobs are actually not so useful.
Anyone who has eaten corn should know that the corn cob has very little moisture, which makes people look at it without appetite.
Because the main ingredient of corn cob is cellulose, it is not too nutritious for the human body, plus it is not delicious, and it is also difficult to digest, so its use is to be used as a tool.
In rural areas, many people also choose to cook and stir-fry vegetables in a pot, and corn on the cob is a tool that people use to make fires.
After dekerneling the corn, many people will take a bag to put the corn cob in it, and wait until the time to burn the pot to take out a packet and use it.
If someone has pigs at home, then this is also a "home" for corn cobs.
Although it is said that people can't eat corn cobs, for pigs, it is a kind of "food", so many people will choose to feed pigs with corn cobs.
Even if the whole is thrown into the pigsty, the pig will eat it, and this can also improve the pig's protein digestion and feed utilization, so that the pig's body can grow stronger.
For many farmers, corn cobs may be a "burden", because corn cobs are really not of much use other than corn kernels, which are also considered secondary products and are very cheap.
Then in South Korea, the identity of the corn cob has changed dramatically.
Korea's "corn on the cob"
In Korea, corn cobs can be found in any place we can't imagine.
For example, on the shelves of supermarkets, or in some restaurants that look very high-end and high-end.
For Koreans, corn cob is a "rare" delicacy, and it is a star product, and it can even appear on Korean TV.
In their view, corn cobs can be used as a "seasoning side dish" and steamed together with other foods, and the resulting food has a sweet taste.
You know, Koreans are very fond of kimchi and soups, such as kelp soup and rice cake soup, and corn cobs are a very good ingredient when making these soups.
Not only that, but on the streets of Korea, you can also see various ways to make corn cobs, such as roasted corn cobs, with cumin and chili, which is a kind of "street food" in Korea.
In addition to being able to be eaten, Korean corn cobs can also be used to "make tea".
According to relevant information, Koreans especially like to drink tea made from corn cobs, and they think that the taste of this tea is very "special".
What's more, for them, the tea brewed from corn cobs has the effects of reducing fire, relieving eye fatigue, and even helping sleep, which is a rare "baby".
In South Korea, some people have made corn cob tea as a part of their lives, and it is also something that must be drunk every day.
Perhaps it is precisely because corn cob is so popular in South Korea that its price has also "skyrocketed".
Previously, a netizen posted on the Internet that he bought corn cobs in a Korean supermarket, and a few corn cobs with very simple packaging were sold for as much as 2,000 won.
When converted into RMB, it is almost ten yuan, and there are only five corn cobs in it, that is, the price of one corn cob is two yuan.
If the corn cob is a little more tender, then the price will be more expensive.
In our country, these corn cobs are something that no one wants, but in South Korea, its price has become "unaffordable".
Obviously, South Korea is also a developed country near the sea, and the fishery and economy are not bad, so why do you like to eat corn cobs?
Why corn cobs in South Korea are so popular
In terms of geography and climate, the area of South Korea is very small, and the climatic conditions there are very poor, and it is actually very difficult to grow a large number of crops in such a place.
In order to prolong the shelf life of food, kimchi has become a very popular way for Koreans to eat kimchi, because it can retain the food for a long time to a large extent.
This also makes South Korea face a problem, fruits and vegetables and other foods, basically all of which need to be imported.
The price of imports is naturally very high, so they cherish any kind of ingredient that can increase the diversity and nutritional value of food.
And corn cobs are one of them.
Some experts in South Korea have found that corn cobs contain a lot of crude protein and crude fiber, which is essential for making soup, and it can also be broken as a supplementary food, which is also very nutritious for the body.
Perhaps it is also for this reason that they are so "obsessed" with corn cobs, even if the price is a little high, they are willing to pay for it.
Not only that, but in Korea, corn cob is not just a food, but even a cultural symbol that means a simple and healthy lifestyle.
They also believe that the dietary fiber in corn cobs can promote intestinal health and improve the body's metabolism.
However, their way of eating is actually difficult for us to accept, and the status of corn cobs in the mainland is indeed not so high.
Information sources:
Longnan Wudu released "Corn cobs are used as firewood in China, and Koreans use them to eat, which is ridiculed by netizens??? 》2024-03-04
Phoenix News "Foreign netizens watch South Korea eat corn cobs, Saudi netizens: Isn't this used for feed"2024-02-20
China Agricultural Science News Network "Corn cob, weeds, bagasse...... Agricultural waste has become a treasure after import and export! 》2024-01-08