Rabbit Head vs. Fish Head
The Challenge: Head to head, literally.
Rabbit
Taste: Tongue has the richest flavour, rest of the meat needs to be worked off the bone piece by piece; tastes like rabbit. Mala seasoning.
Flesh to Bone Ratio: Low – you really need to use your teeth to rip off what little flesh is on each small head; eight of them would probably yield a regular portion’s worth.
Squeamish Laowai Factor: High. The brain has a paste like consistency and needs to be sucked out, while there’s a lot of tooth and skull to work around. The eyeballs are quite small, however.
Where: Lao Jie Tu Yan Bang Cai, Dongzhimen; RMB8/head
Fish
Taste: Varied – flesh around the back of the head is more fibrous, the tender cheek is buttery and glutinous; tastes like fish. Also spiced with mala.
Flesh to Bone Ratio: High – the head is colossal (half the head of a 6 jin fish is enough for 2-3 people) so get your chopsticks in there and have a dig around.
Squeamish Laowai Factor: High. Although the brain is indistinguishable from fatty flesh, the marble-sized eyeball’s gooey texture will challenge even the hardiest of carnivores.
Where: Wang Shun Ge Yu Tou, Fortune Plaza, CBD; RMB58/jin
Verdict
The rabbit seems more ceremonial – the fish is more of a square meal. In the ultimate head-to-head challenge the fish head prevails. Waste not, want not.
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