Luosifen originated in Liuzhou, a city in China's north-west Guangxi autonomous province. It features rice vermicelli soaked in a spicy broth, topped with locally grown ingredients including bamboo shoots, string beans, turnips, peanuts and tofu skin. Pre-packaged luosifen -- which many describe as the "luxury version of instant noodles" -- usually comes with eight or more ingredients in vacuum-sealed packets.

While the Covid-19 pandemic almost obliterated the restaurant industry worldwide, the crisis turned out to be a blessing for luosifen makers.Years before the pandemic began, noodle makers in Liuzhou were brewing an idea to take a different path from those exporting local specialty foods to other parts of China by opening chain restaurants or shops.

Sales soared in 2019, leading it to become one of the best-selling regional snacks on Chinese e-commerce sites like Taobao. State media reported 2.5 million luosifen packets were produced daily in June 2020.

Though it admittedly draws inspiration from convenience food, packaged luosifen shouldn't be classed as such, says Ni. Instead, he prefers to refer to it as a "local specialty food," because neither the quality nor the freshness has been compromised.

"Luosifen producers use spices -- star anise, numbing peppers, fennel and cinnamon -- as natural preservatives in addition to flavorings," Ni says. "Depending on the recipe, there are at least 18 spices in the broth."

Rather than adding flavoring powders, the luosifen broth -- often condensed in packets -- is created through protracted cooking processes, with bulks of snails, chicken bones and pig marrow bones sitting in rolling boils for more than 10 hours.