Chengdu is the capital city of Sichuan province, western China (I think).

Most of us are familiar with (or should have at least heard of) Sichuan's spicy foods.

Eg. Sichuan vegetable, Ma2 La4 steamboat.

 

I was in Chengdu, Sichuan for a conference.

Met my Chinese friend Catherine, who hails from Zhejiang in Eastern China.

It was Cat's first trip to Chengdu and she went on a city tour.

I didn't join her as I was stuck in meetings.

 

Anyway, Cat bought a Sichuan specialty dish for me from one of their renowned restaurants.

7 stewed rabbit heads: 5 plain and 2 got hiam.

 

She delivered the heads to my room and unpacked them for me.

She looked expectantly as I took my seat on my room sofa in front of the 7 heads, staring blankly at them.

I started to break into cold sweat.

I was about to eat what used to be harmless, cute and fluffy...

 

Cat: " Meepok, do you dare to eat this?  I had 20 of them this afternoon. They are very, very nice !!"

 

Meepok (diplomatically): "Of course !! Wah ….. they look really nice but I had a really heavy dinner.  Maybe I'll have them later."

 

Cat: "Oh come on! Have a few! They won't fill your tummy and I guarantee that they're good."

 

Meepok (gulping): "Ok lah …."

 

I picked up the rabbit's head, with plastic gloves provided.

You can actually see the full form of the head, teeth, nose and all.

 

I mustered all my courage to sink my teeth into the head.

To be honest, it didn't taste that bad.

To make my friend happy, I actually whacked 3.

 

Cat: "Hey, I notice you didn't suck the eye and brain …."

I almost puked.

Eyes and brain?

Welcome to FEAR FACTOR (SICHUAN).

 

Meepok: "Err … I'm saving them for later.  I'll order beer to have them with.  Will do that after I shower."

 

Cat got the hint that I wanted to shower and left shortly after.

She was obviously pleased that her Singaporean (BRAVE) friend appreciated a rare Sichuan delicacy.

 

Well, this is what happened to the rabbit heads after Cat left the room.

 

 

I felt kinda bad throwing food away but I couldn't bring myself to suck more heads of Bugs Bunny's friends.

After my shower, I settled for something more conventional, Sichuan style.

A big bowl of oily and spicy Dan Dan Mian.

 

 

Wabbit Heads anyone?