Who wants Saliva Noodles?

By Johnny Haslam

I was just reading this odd article about a Chinese dish called saliva noodles (a.k.a. xian shui mian). Apparently, a Chinese government bureau is paying people NOT to eat saliva noodles. Why?

It's disgusting!

As best as I can figure, the idea is that when there's a pot of soup, everyone eats out of it. If there is any soup left over, it's just used for the NEXT pot of soup. In this way, one pot of soup can live for years, and it contains the saliva of, er, many ancestors. (And the bacteria from their mouths!)