A vegetable you can only pick after rain, 30 yuan per jin and hard to buy, 10 times more nutritious than eggs

This vegetable is called diplicai (Nostoc commune, star jelly). It is not commonly seen at ordinary times, and can basically only be "picked up" after it rains. The quantity is small and quite rare, and diplicai is currently basically not cultivated artificially. Most of the diplicai on the market is picked in the wild, so the price is relatively high.

Dried diplicai costs about 100 yuan per jin, while fresh diplicai costs about 30 yuan per jin, and you may not even be able to buy it, mainly because it is too hard to come across anyone selling it.

In fact, diplicai, also called dier, has extremely high nutritional value. It contains various proteins, minerals, multiple vitamins and other nutrients, and is especially rich in calcium, with more than 200 mg of calcium per 50 grams, roughly as much as 10 eggs, which is extremely rare among vegetables.

Diplicai has very strong survival ability and an extremely wide range of survival. It generally likes to grow in unpolluted, relatively humid places, such as field ridges, roadside weeds, at the base of large trees, or among moss communities. Many times it can only be found after it has rained, because it is a combination of fungi and algae. Once soaked by rainwater, it expands and grows, with a dark black appearance and thick, fleshy texture, somewhat like softened wood ear fungus.

In everyday cooking, diplicai can be used to scramble with eggs, stew soup, make bun filling and so on, and it tastes delicious. However, before eating, it must be washed clean and soaked in water first, otherwise there will be sand and soil in it, and the texture will not be good.

Diplicai does not have high requirements for soil. It can grow vigorously in many places where even grass struggles to grow, such as rocks, gravel, and sandy soil. It has strong reproductive ability and is tolerant of drought. When it is so dry that it crumbles when rubbed by hand, it can grow again once there is water. Even if it lies dormant for decades, it immediately revives once it encounters water. It is an important wild vegetable resource.