Don't throw away this mold on sorghum - it's a rare delicacy at 60 yuan per jin

In rural areas, farmers have a very simple understanding of things: anything that benefits crop growth is considered good; anything that has a negative effect on crop growth is considered harmful, and farmers will find ways to remove these harmful things to prevent them from affecting crop growth later on, and in turn affecting the whole year's harvest. Today I'm going to introduce a kind of "mold" that people always used to mistake for something harmful, when in fact it is a rare delicacy.

Friends who grew up in rural areas probably aren't unfamiliar with sorghum. Every autumn, there's no escaping the fate of going out to the fields to cut sorghum, and when you come back, your arms and face always end up with a few scratches from the sorghum leaves. In a very few sorghum plants, there is sorghum black mold, whose real name is sorghum smut fungus (Ustilago maydis). If farmers see sorghum like this, they will break it off and throw it away, because it really affects the harvest. It is a major scourge for crops. Once sorghum is infected with this mold, it will not head out and produce sorghum grain, so for farmers in the past, this was a very annoying disease.

But did you know? Although sorghum smut fungus is hated by farmers, it is actually a rare delicacy. When we were kids, we called it "sorghum wumi," and it is edible. Some people might ask, can such a black thing be eaten? Of course it can! When sorghum is heading out, experienced people can tell at a glance which ones are sorghum wumi. Break them off and eat them steamed, or you can stir-fry them - either way works. After eating it, you'll find that sorghum wumi has a faint sweetness and also carries a unique fragrance. Of course, after eating, be sure to rinse your mouth, because your mouth will turn all black.

Right now, the sorghum harvest season is about to arrive again. When you see sorghum wumi, you can try eating it - this flavor is truly unforgettable. In fact, sorghum wumi also has certain medicinal value. Its effects are recorded in the "National Compendium of Chinese Herbal Medicine": it can regulate menstruation and stop bleeding, and it is suitable for women to eat. Nowadays, some merchants in Northeast China are buying up sorghum wumi at high prices, then selling it as a Northeast specialty across the country, and the price can reach 60 yuan per jin.

It's really unexpected: when we were kids, farmers were afraid of sorghum smut fungus causing reduced sorghum yields, but now the price of sorghum smut fungus is many times higher than the price of sorghum. If you see this wumi on sorghum, would you dare to eat it?