Daredevil diners hop along to rabbit restaurants(2)

Another diner said: "There isn't much meat, but the eating process is deliriously satisfying. The more you suck, the tastier they are."

Eating a rabbit head isn't easy, though, and getting the most out of the experience requires a good technique. Manager He offered a few tips.

First, pull open the rabbit's mouth by separating the upper and lower jaws from the skull. Then split the lower jawbone into two to allow access to the cheeks, tongue and chin. Getting at the brain requires a little more effort - gently bite the skull to crack it open and you'll see the brain coming out. To look really professional, be sure to use the bony upper palate to scoop out the eyeballs.

According to He, seasoned eaters don't have to use both hands. The job can be managed easily using just one hand while you wield chopsticks in the other. "You can simply pull out the brain from the skull using chopsticks," he said.

Tasty and healthy

Rabbit is not just a tasty dish, it's also a healthy one. Dietitians say domesticated rabbit meat is high in protein, but low in calories and cholesterol compared with pork and chicken. Also, the animals are usually raised without the use of hormones or steroids.

"It's tasty and healthy. I believe rabbit will gain wider acceptance as people's knowledge grows," He said, adding that his restaurant has attracted a number of celebrities, including Guo Donglin, a famous crosstalk comedian, plus the movie star Huang Yi, and former Olympic champion diver Tian Liang.

Liu Jie, sales manager of Qingdao Kangda Foods Co, one of China's biggest suppliers of meat, said the company saw rapid growth in orders for rabbit last year, when it sold 10,000 tons of rabbit meat, plus 1,000 tons of heads. Both figures were a rise of about 20 percent from 2012.

Antoine Gautier, founder of Algo Foods, a Paris-based company that supplies frozen meat to markets in Europe, Russia, Asia and Africa, said: "Demand from China is growing for exotic meat items - offal, pig ears and feet, and chicken feet.

"We don't trade rabbit meat. Our most popular items for Chinese clients are pig's feet. The demand is even higher than for offal, but unfortunately, pigs only have four feet."