🍽️ Luosifen

Sour bamboo shoots in snail soup, fresh, spicy and sour.

Luosifen, or river-snail noodles, are the soul food of Liuzhou, Guangxi. A rich broth simmered from river snails and spices is poured over springy rice noodles with sour bamboo shoots, fried bean curd skin, peanuts, wood ear and greens. Its signature is the pungent, fermented aroma of the bamboo shoots, off-putting at first whiff, yet the taste layers fresh, spicy, sour and crisp over a thick, flavorful soup and chewy noodles. Best eaten freshly cooked, it is tangy and addictive. From Liuzhou street corners it has spread nationwide as one of China's most talked-about regional snacks, its distinctive smell the very mark of authenticity.