Luosifen is rice noodles in a broth made from river snails, pickled bamboo shoots, vinegar, and chilli, with dried tofu skin, peanuts, and spring onion on top. The snails themselves are typically removed from the broth before serving — their contribution is the gelatinous depth of the stock rather than their presence in the bowl. The pickled bamboo shoots are the element that produces the dish's famous smell: fermented, funky, deeply savoury.
The best luosifen is eaten at the specialist shops around the Liuzhou city centre and the older residential neighbourhoods — look for shops with large pots of broth visible from the street and a local crowd at the plastic tables. Breakfast is the traditional time, though the shops serve all day. A bowl costs around ¥10–15. The version you eat in Liuzhou bears the same relationship to the instant-noodle product sold internationally as fresh pasta bears to dried: recognisably the same dish, completely different in effect.