What is bo bo seed?

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The name of the bo bo seed is familiar, appearing a lot in the stories of the elders, grandparents, parents about life in the past. They often say that bo bo seeds are very hard and difficult to eat but have fed many generations of that time. Therefore, the mystery of bo bo seeds is of interest to many people. Perhaps many people think that it is a dry, hard version of corn kernels. However, what is the truth?

What is bo bo seed?

Job's tears are actually barley seeds. This is a nutritious but quite hard seed. To make it delicious and soft, you have to soak them in water and leave them overnight. If you don't soak them, it will take you quite a while to soften them. Currently, barley seeds can be used as an ingredient to add to many dishes or to support beauty such as face masks.

This type of grain is flat, about 0.5cm in diameter, 0.5-0.7cm long, and is covered by a hard bract. Because of the hard shell, it is difficult to cook the millet directly to eat. To be used as food for humans, the wheat grain must go through the process of removing the bran and fermenting.

However, during the subsidy period, the bo bo seeds that came to the Vietnamese often did not go through this process. The bo bo seeds that were not fermented were very tough and hard compared to rice. Therefore, people often mixed bo bo seeds with rice to make them easier to eat. Before cooking, people had to soak the bo bo seeds in water for half a day, then cook them, boiling them for many hours to let them expand and soften. When the water was almost dry, rice was added to cook with the bo bo seeds.

During the subsidy period, bo bo seeds were a valuable source of food to relieve hunger. Rice mixed with bo bo is an unforgettable memory for our grandparents and parents who lived through the subsidy period.

In addition to the wheat grains mentioned above, people also call unmilled whole barley imported from the Soviet Union bo bo, and it is also used to stuff rice.

Kareem Winters

Update 16 December 2024