Snail noodles exported to US

Luosifen is a signature dish of Guangxi, usually sold from roadside stands or in night markets. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Rice noodles with snails, a signature dish sold at street stalls in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, are being exported to the United States, a company says. A combination of Han, Miao and Dong cuisine, luosifen is made from pickled bamboo, dried turnip, fresh vegetables and peanuts, and served in a spicy noodle broth flavored with river snails.

In Liuzhou city, Guangxi, luosifen is usually sold from roadside stands or in night markets. When served in luxury hotel restaurants in Liuzhou, snails may be included in the dish. In recent years, several luosifen restaurants have been established in Beijing, Shanghai, HongKong and even overseas.

On Friday, about 50,000 packets of such noodles, worth about 600,000 yuan (about $87,000), were shipped to the US, says Jia Defa, manager of Liuzhou Luozhuangyuan Food Company Ltd.

The popular local cuisine entered the international market longago, but has never been officially exported due to standards compliance problems.

With improved technology and quality control, companies in Liuzhou are now able to produce noodles compliant with international standards.

Luozhuangyuan was cleared by the inspection and quarantine agency to export last year, and the recent shipment was the first to be exported to the US and Canada with customs clearance.

Listed as an intangible cultural heritage for Guangxi in 2008, the dish was featured in the hit foodie-travel show A Bite of China in 2012. The stock is made from river snails and pork bones, which are stewed for hours with black cardamom, fennel seed, dried tangerine peel, cassia bark, cloves, white pepper, bay leaf, licorice root, sand ginger and star anise.

According to Liuzhou government, there are more than 5,000 luosifen noodle shops on Taobao, with 200,000 packets sold everyday.

China Daily contributed to this story.