As we all know, snail vermicelli is one of the speciality dishes in Liuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with a unique flavour of spiciness, freshness, sourness and hotness. Luosifen is named after the snail soup used to make it. The snail soup of Snail vermicelli is made from snail meat, pork bones, traditional Chinese medicine, and natural spices, which are boiled according to folk secrets. After boiling the soup, the snail meat is discarded because its essence is concentrated in the soup. The carefully crafted snail soup has a unique flavour that is refreshing but not light, numbing but not dry, spicy but not fiery, and fragrant but not greasy.
The strong and special odour of river snail rice noodles mainly comes from its unique ingredient - "pickled sour bamboo shoots". The first episode of the Chinese TV show "A Bite of China" introduced in great detail the process of making Liuzhou sour bamboo shoots. Liuzhou sour bamboo shoots, with their unique taste, are mainly made from big-headed sweet bamboo shoots which are rich in meat. They are pickled for about half a month in large earthenware jars with mountain spring water. As a pickled and fermented food, it naturally produces some amino acid substances that are delicious during the fermentation process, which results in the special luo si fen smell. Just like stinky tofu, the sour and pungent odor of Liuzhou bulk rice noodles also comes from this fermentation process.
In addition, the broth of snail vermicelli will also emit a unique smell after the snail meat is boiled. The combination of the two will produce a "special smell". The taste of Luosifen makes many people "keep a distance" from it, but those who appreciate its connotation will know that Luosifen is fragrant but not rotten. The aroma is appetite-inducing, and the thought of luo si noodles makes one salivate.
The reason why snail vermicelli is so addictive is closely related to its colour, fragrance, and taste. Firstly, it has a unique "strong and spicy" taste. Spiciness always tempts and stimulates our "appetite nerves", and the colour of Luosifen also looks very appetizing, so it is hard to resist the double stimulation of taste and vision.
Secondly, the "special sour and pungent" luo si fen smell made of sour bamboo shoots makes it unforgettable, because the sense of smell and taste are different when judging the taste of food. When luo si fen enters the mouth, it undergoes various enzymatic reactions during chewing which enhances the sensory experience. Therefore, it may smell stinky but taste delicious!
