The smell of snail noodles comes from sour bamboo shoots. When you eat snail noodles, there will be some sour bamboo shoots, fried fruits, sour beans and sour bamboo shoots in it. Sour bamboo shoots are made from fermented bamboo shoots. Because they are completely cut off from oxygen, the sugars and proteins inside will be fermented and turned into various simpler amino acid substances.

Snail noodles are a snack in Liuzhou, Guangxi, and an intangible cultural heritage of Guangxi, China. It is made of Liuzhou's unique rice noodles, plus ingredients such as sour bamboo shoots, fungus, peanuts, fried yuba, day lily, fresh green vegetables, moderate hot and sour flavor, and boiled snail soup. It has sour, spicy, fresh, and Refreshing, hot flavor and the special smell of sour bamboo shoots. In fact, the "unique smell" of snail noodles comes from the ingredients of sour bamboo shoots and soup base.

The sour bamboo shoots in snail noodles are made through fermentation, just like stinky tofu, bean juice, pickled puffin, etc., all of which have their iconic flavor after fermentation. Bamboo shoots will smell sour after being soaked in salt water for a period of time. The sugars and proteins in the bamboo shoots are fermented and converted into various amino acids and organic acids, aldehydes, alcohols and other substances. The metabolites of some amino acids emit a gas that smells like rotten eggs, which is the "notorious" hydrogen sulfide, an odorous substance present in farts. This is one of the reasons why snail noodles smell bad.

Another reason for the smell of snail noodles is the soup base of snail noodles. The soup base of snail noodles is boiled with snails and pork bones. The snails themselves have a special smell. After buying them and keeping them in clean water for a day, they still smell quite stinky after being cleaned. After frying, the smell of spices covers up part of the smell. Therefore, the whole snail noodle is heavily seasoned, uniquely spicy and "smelly", and its taste makes many people avoid it. But those who know how to appreciate it know that it is fragrant but not rotten. It is appetizing to smell and makes you salivate. Eat and wallow.