Luosifen

Luosifen is a cherished noodle dish originating from Liuzhou, Guangxi, in southern China. It features rice noodles immersed in a savory broth made from river snails and pork bones, slowly simmered with spices such as black cardamom, fennel seed, dried tangerine peel, and star anise. While the broth doesn’t contain snail meat, it is typically accompanied by pickled bamboo shoots, green beans, wood ear mushrooms, peanuts, and chili oil. Diners often customize their bowls with additional chili, green onions, and vinegar to suit their personal taste.

The origins of Luosifen are rich with folklore, tracing back to the late 1970s or early 1980s. There are three main stories about how the dish came to be, each involving serendipitous encounters, local market adaptations, and the era following the Cultural Revolution in Liuzhou. Over time, Luosifen has grown in popularity beyond its hometown, with restaurants serving the dish in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, and even internationally.

Creating Luosifen involves boiling rice noodles with river snails and pork bones for several hours to develop a rich, flavorful broth. Common additions include dried bean curd sticks, bamboo shoots, and peanuts, which enhance the dish’s unique blend of flavors and textures. While recipes may vary, Luosifen is universally appreciated for its distinctive taste.

Luosifen has achieved international acclaim, with exports extending across China, the United States, and Canada. It is now a symbol of Liuzhou’s culinary heritage, enjoyed everywhere from street stalls to upscale restaurants. Similar dishes, such as Vietnam’s Bún Ốc, offer different takes on the snail-based noodle concept.

The dish’s popularity has surged thanks to mass production and online sales, with packaged Luosifen becoming a household staple. Specialized restaurants and online platforms like Taobao have played a significant role in spreading Luosifen globally, establishing it as a widely recognized Chinese delicacy savored by food enthusiasts around the world.