Liuquan Snail Rice Noodle

James picked up the Liuquan Snail Rice Noodle at our local Asian grocery store and brought it to one of our tasting sessions. Luosifen, snail rice noodle, is a famous street food that is known for being pungent. I was intrigued by the 7 packets that were included inside.

Produced in China.

What’s in the Package

This is a massive kit for one meal. Inside, you’ve got a bag of thick, dry rice noodles and seven individual sachets: the sauce bag, chili oil, vinegar, pickled cowpea and radish, beancurd and fried peanuts, and sour bamboo shoots.

How to Prepare Liuquan Snail Rice Noodle

1. Place the dry rice noodles in a pot with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes, or until the noodles can be easily broken with chopsticks.
2. Remove the noodles from the pot and drain the starchy water.
3. Add the noodles back into the pot with 500ml of fresh water. Pour in the Sauce Bag and boil for another 2 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and add the remaining sachets: Sour Bamboo Shoots, Pickled Cowpea & Radish, Vinegar Bag, and Chili Oil Bag.
5. Sprinkle the Beancurd & Fried Peanuts on top right before serving to ensure they stay crispy.

How Does It Taste

You get a good dose of the sourness first. It comes from the pickled bamboo shoots and it’s funky and tangy in a good way.

The seven packet assembly creates a layered eating experience. The chili oil brings heat, the vinegar adds more acidity, the pickled cowpeas and radish add crunch, and the sauce ties everything together. The broth sits at a 3 out of 5 on viscosity. It was thick enough to coat the noodles properly.

The fried beancurd was the one thing both James and I agreed to leave out. The flavor was overwhelming relative to everything else and threw off the balance the other packets work hard to create. Keep the peanuts, skip the beancurd.

The noodles are thin and smooth like spaghetti. They need the full 10 minutes to cook properly. We pulled them too early on the first attempt and the texture was off. Give them the time.

How Does It Compare

Luosifen is its own category on this site. The closest parallel in terms of complexity and component count is the A-Kuan Rice Noodle With Konjac Hot Pot Flavor which also has multiple packets, also sour and spicy. The A-Kuan is more approachable and less funky. The Liuquan is more committed to the authentic Luosifen experience. If you want the real thing in instant form this is it.

How to Level Up Liuquan Snail Rice Noodles

SPAM is what I’d reach for here. Pan fry it thin so you get some color on the outside before adding it. The saltiness cuts through the sourness so that it makes the whole bowl more balanced. A soft-boiled egg is the other good option.

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Related Instant Ramen

• A-Kuan Rice Noodle With Konjac Hot Pot Flavor
• Shizuren Snail Rice Noodles
• Yumei Tianshui Malatang Hot Pot
• A-Kuan Rice Noodle Garlic Crayfish
• Po Po Cha Cha Spicy Clam Ramen