Extremely interesting facts about the legend of bo bo during the subsidy period

Many people today would 'not be able to swallow' bo bo seeds. But in the shortages of the subsidy period, bo bo was still an acceptable part of daily meals.

Eating rice mixed with bo bo is an unforgettable memory of many Vietnamese people during the subsidy period. But not everyone knows clearly what bo bo is and where it comes from.

Accordingly, sorghum is a very drought-resistant crop that the Soviet Union, India and some countries that had friendly relations with Vietnam before the 1990s planted a lot to harvest grain.

The appearance of the bo bo plant is very similar to corn (maize), but it produces clusters of many small bean-like seeds at the top. The bo bo seeds have a very hard shell and are very difficult to cook directly.

In addition to the above mentioned sorghum grains, whole unmilled wheat and barley imported from the Soviet Union are also called sorghum grains, for the same purpose.

To be used as food for humans, bo bo must be milled to remove bran and fermented, but bo bo seeds that came to Vietnamese people during the subsidy period often did not go through this process.

To eat raw bo bo seeds, people have to soak them in water and cook them for a long time. Because they cannot be fermented, bo bo seeds are very tough and hard compared to rice. To make them easier to eat, people mix bo bo with rice. In addition, bo bo seeds are also pounded into flour.

Many people today would "not be able to swallow" bo bo seeds. But in the time of scarcity, bo bo was still an acceptable part of daily meals.