Are you up for the challenge to try China’s smelliest rice noodles?
Originating in Liuzhou city of the Guangxi Province in China, Luosifen has become one of the favourite noodle choices among the younger generation. Luosifen, which is also known as Snail Rice Noodle is a type of Chinese noodle soup that is served with rice noodles in a soup made from river snails, pork bones and other herbal ingredients. It usually doesn’t contain actual snail meat pieces but there are many toppings added to the broth to complete the bowl of noodles. As an upgrade to the bowl of noodles, some even add deep-fried egg and dried tofu strips into the soup for more flavour and texture.
Photo by Simon Song / South China Morning Post
Freshly made authentic luosifen can only be found in Liuzhou city, but the instant noodle version of luosifen is very popular in other cities in China. The craze has also started spreading internationally and now you can find instant snail rice noodles at local Asian grocery stores. I’ve been buying them from T&T and you can cook a package in just 10 minutes. It is very easy to make, and it tastes delicious.
Unlike regular instant noodles where you only get the noodles and the soup powder package, instant luosifen comes with pickled bamboo shoots, pickled green beans, shredded wood ear mushrooms and peanuts. There is also the snail soup packet, a chilli oil packet and a white vinegar packet that you can add according to your own preference. If you know you have a low tolerance level for spicy foods, then skipping the chili oil packet is totally fine, the noodles will still stage very good.
Photo by Simon Song / South China Morning Post
Why is luosifen known to be so smelly? What causes the smell to be so bad?
The answer to that is simply the pickled bamboo shoots. It adds this very strong smell to the whole bowl of noodles and some people hate it and some people love it. It’s kind of like the fruit durian that you either have a love or hate relationship to it. Those who enjoy it will not feel that the smell is a problem, but for those who don’t like it, then the smell will already send them away.
@pinterastudio / Pixabay
Luosifen doesn’t really have a long history. It is somewhat of a new trend. With legends that date back to around the early 1980s, that was when people started to eat snail noodle soup. There are many different explanations of who and how they invented this dish, but Liuzhou is famous for this noodle soup.