Guangxi

Snake noodles are one of the specialty snacks in Liuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. They have a unique flavor of spicy, refreshing, fresh, sour and hot. It is the most famous snack with local characteristics in Liuzhou. The deliciousness of snail noodles is also due to its unique soup. The soup is made from snails, kaempferol, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, various chili peppers, and other natural spices and seasonings. On August 20, 2018, "Liuzhou Snail Noodles" obtained the National Geographical Indication Trademark. In 2008, Liuzhou's snail noodle hand-making skills were selected into the second batch of intangible cultural heritage list of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. In 2020, it was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list.

Flavour characteristics

In addition to being fresh, sour, refreshing and hot, snail noodles are also unique in their spiciness. It is made of Liuzhou's unique soft and refreshing rice noodles, plus ingredients such as sour bamboo shoots, peanuts, fried yuba, day lily, dried radish, fresh green vegetables, rich and moderate hot and sour flavor, and boiled snail soup. Because of the unique and delicious snail soup, people will think twice about eating it. The color will make you salivate before you taste it. The red color is a layer of chili oil floating on top, the green color is the seasonal vegetables, and the delicious snail soup permeates every vermicelli. The chili oil in the snail noodles is different from ordinary noodles. The spiciness is different from the others. This kind is aggressively spicy, tender, smooth and crispy, making people forget their original taste.

The reason why snail noodles are called "snail noodles" is because its soup is made from snails. Outsiders may not be used to the spicy and fishy taste of snail noodle soup, but this is precisely the biggest feature of snail noodle soup. The carefully brewed snail soup has a unique flavor that is clear but not bland, numb but not dry, spicy but not hot, fragrant but not greasy.

Authentic Liuzhou snail noodles will have a strong and strange "stinky" smell. This "stinky" smell comes from the sour bamboo shoots in the snail noodles, which are fresh bamboo shoots fermented by technology. It is made by acidification, and its taste makes many people avoid it. But those who know how to appreciate its connotation will know that it is fragrant but not rotten. It is appetizing when you smell it, salivate when you think about it, and roll when you eat it.

Historical origin

Chili pepper was introduced to China from the Americas in the late Ming Dynasty. At first, it was only used as an ornamental crop and medicine, and it did not enter the Chinese menu for a long time. After chili pepper entered China, it set off a small dietary revolution. People in Liuzhou integrated it into snail noodles and made full use of it, thus creating snail noodles. Many people who have eaten snail noodles question why there is not a single snail in the snail noodles. It is said that the snail soup of snail noodles is made from snail meat, pork bones, medicinal materials, natural spices and other folk secret recipes. After the soup, the snail meat will become Discard as the essence is concentrated into the soup.

Snail noodles first appeared in the late 1970s. Although it has a short history, snails and rice noodles have a long history in Liuzhou. Liu Wen, who has been engaged in cultural relics and archaeology in Liuzhou for more than 40 years, believes that from a small perspective, the historical and cultural development trajectory of Liuzhou is a history of collecting edible snails.

Production process

Materials

Main ingredients: rice noodles (dry cut powder can also be used), snails, and yuba.

Accessories: pickled bamboo shoots, sauerkraut, pork spine, lettuce, fried peanuts, dried radish, black fungus, grass fruit, fennel, bay leaves, chopped green onion.

Seasoning: salt, monosodium glutamate, rapeseed oil, cooking wine, soy sauce wine, soaked red pepper, soaked sansho pepper, chili powder.

Preparation method

Cut off the lean meat from the pork bones and chop the spine directly into pieces.

Soak the snails in clean water for 1 hour to remove the sediment and earthy smell, and then wash them again.

Cut the ingredients into shreds and dices, pour some oil into the pan and fry the yuba slices (the oil needs to be hot when frying the yuba slices, but it must be removed from the fire, otherwise it will burn), and then add the remaining oil from the fried yuba slices. Pour chili powder into it to make chili oil (note that you can just use the residual heat from fried bean curd sticks, no need to add fire).

Put the pork bones into a pot and boil the soup, add a tablespoon of rice wine to the water, put the shredded pickled cabbage and diced sour beans into the pot and stir-fry, add a little oil, but do not add salt.

Put black fungus and pork (cut lean meat) into a pot and stir-fry until cooked and add a little salt.

Put oil in the pot, add garlic and ginger slices and sauté until fragrant, then add snails and stir-fry, add one tablespoon of salt and half a tablespoon of spices and stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add half a bowl of water, bring to a boil and put Boil together in bone broth.

Bake the soup with snail meat for 1 hour, then add the chili oil you prepared in advance into the pot (you can omit it if you don’t like spicy food).

Boil another half pot of water, add salt in the water (stir evenly, it will taste salty), when the water boils, blanch the rice noodles in the water, then scoop them up, add the prepared ingredients, and finally add the snails The soup snail rice noodle is finished.

Tips

If you don’t have snails, feel free to use other types of snails.

The most important thing for snail noodles is the soup base, and the taste of the soup must be adjusted well.

The round rice noodles prepared for making snail noodles are not the usual fine rice noodles, but rather thick.

Excipients can be omitted. Sour bamboo shoots, pickled cabbage, fried peanuts, dried radish, and chopped green onion can be added after the snail noodles are made.

If it is dry-cut noodles, the cross-section diameter is about 3 mm. It should be soaked in water for 1 hour in advance, and use cold water, otherwise the noodles will break and lose elasticity after being cooked.