Bunny Rabbit Heads

Hangzhou, China.

Remember that scene in 24 Hour Party People, when Shaun Ryder's character says "I don't want no bunny rabbit food" when he looks at the veggie food spread on Tony Wilson's fancy new table? Except he's got an accent and it sounds like he says "bully rabbi" instead. I wonder what the Happy Monday singer would say if we offered him a bunny rabbit head. Would he eat it?



That's what I was contemplating as I sat down with my DJ crew before our Antidote party in Hangzhou, China, and nibbled on some heads of rabbit. Rabbit heads are a popular delicacy in Sichuan Province, where they make their food spicy. The gamey rodent meat soaks up the spicy, oily juices, all tender and succulent. Lip-smacking good.



I wasn't sure how to get intimate with a rabbit cranium, so I went straight for the tongue. The tongue just sits there wiggling half limp between the open jaws of the bunny skull. Man, they've got big ol' chomper teeth! So I carefully kept the jaw parted and put the tongue in my mouth and pulled it out. A bit of rubbery resistance, but it came off easily. I chewed the tongue and swallowed. Then we took turns giving each other the head to nibble on. A couple of our groupies wouldn't give the head a chance, but the others sucked it up and enjoyed it. We gave them free tickets to the party.



Hangzhou has a couple good food streets. The rabbit heads we ate were on the very touristy Hefang Pedestrian street, not far from the West Lake. I was sad to see the restaurant that proudly proclaimed to be "Stephen Hawking's favorite restaurant" was no longer in business. We ate there years ago, and there were nearly 100 pics of Mr. Hawking on the wall.


DJ Ben Huang and DJ Ekki

The party was good. We brought the noise. The crowd danced and hollered and went wacky. Then some drunk fat guy, who said he was a VIP Customer, requested a 50 Cent song and wouldn't relent. The club manager took his side. Ah, the power of the VIP Customer in China. The Antidote doesn't take requests. So we took our party elsewhere.

Oh by the way, I dropped "24 Hour Party People" into my set that night, it still rocks every time.