P
Chinese · Chengdu
Sichuan Rabbit Head (Tu Tou) Street Food
Ma la tu tou: Chengdu's iconic street food — rabbit heads split and marinated in the ma la (numbing-spicy) master brine, then slow-cooked until the meat yields from the skull. Eaten with bare hands, diners extract every morsel — cheeks, tongue, ear cartilage. A nocturnal snack food associated with Chengdu's late-night food culture. The skill is in how you eat it, not in how it's cooked.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
4
rabbit heads
split completely through the skull before marinating
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the ma la master brine
60 g
doubanjiang
Sichuan fermented broad-bean chilli paste
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 tbsp
Sichuan peppercorns
whole, dry
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
8
dried red chillies
whole
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
60 ml
soy sauce
6 cloves
garlic
crushed
Your own market
30 g
1 litre
water
to make up the brine
Your own market
2 tbsp
Sichuan pepper oil
for finishing; not fresh Sichuan pepper
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Split each rabbit head completely through the skull — front to back — with a heavy cleaver, so that the brine can reach into the bone cavity rather than merely washing the outer surface. Press firmly and decisively; a hesitant stroke leaves the bone splintered and the halves uneven, which will cause them to sit awkwardly in the pot and marinate unevenly. The heads are ready when the two halves lie fully open, the cut faces clean and flat.
2
Combine the doubanjiang, Sichuan peppercorns, dried chillies, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and water in a pot large enough to submerge all four heads, then bring to a simmer and stir until the doubanjiang is fully dissolved into the liquid, so that its fermented heat and colour distribute evenly rather than sitting in pockets. The brine is ready when it smells of deep, fermented chilli heat and the surface is brick-red and faintly oily.
From the canon — Doubanjiang — the 'soul of Sichuan cuisine' — is a fermented paste of broad beans (fava beans) and chillies that is to Sichuan cooking what soy sauce is to J… Doubanjiang (Sichuan Fermented Bean Paste — Aged vs Fresh) →
3
Submerge the split heads in the brine and marinate — refrigerated — for several hours, or overnight, so that the flavour works its way through the skull and into the interior rather than colouring only the cut faces. The heads are ready to cook when those cut surfaces have taken on a deep reddish stain throughout; anything paler at the centre means more time is needed.
4
Transfer the heads and all brine to the pot, bring the liquid slowly to 70–80 °C — below a simmer — and hold it there for several hours, so that the cheek meat yields gradually and the skull keeps its shape rather than the whole assembly falling apart into the pot. This is where the dish lives or dies: too high a heat and the meat drops from the bone, losing the structure that makes the eating worth the effort; too short and the cheek will not give. The heads are done when the cheek meat releases cleanly under light finger pressure but the skull holds firm.
5
Remove the heads from the brine and allow them to cool to room temperature — not in the refrigerator, since chilling tightens the meat and dulls the numbing fragrance of the pepper oil that follows. Dress lightly with the Sichuan pepper oil, working it into the cut faces so that the numbing quality distributes evenly across all surfaces rather than pooling in one place. The heads are ready when the oil has settled and the surface is glossy.
From the canon — Sichuan pepper — hua jiao (flower pepper) — is not pepper at all but the dried husk of the berry of the prickly ash tree (Zanthoxylum simulans or Z. Sichuan Pepper (Hua Jiao): Toasting, Grinding, and the Ma Experience →
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Rabbit heads from a named small-farm supplier, brine built with premium Pixian doubanjiang (aged two or more years) and freshly dried Hanyuan Sichuan peppercorns.
02
Estate — Rabbit heads from a known butcher source; good-quality Pixian doubanjiang; whole dried Sichuan peppercorns of identifiable provenance.
03
Market — Rabbit heads from a reliable ethnic or specialist butcher; standard Sichuan doubanjiang from an Asian grocer; commercially packaged Sichuan peppercorns.
04
House — Rabbit heads sourced wherever available; any doubanjiang-style chilli bean paste; pre-ground Sichuan pepper accepted as a last resort.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. The cut faces of the split skull have taken on a deep, even reddish stain from the brine before cooking begins.
◇Touch. After slow-cooking, cheek meat releases cleanly under light finger pressure while the skull retains its form.
◇Sight. After dressing, the surface of the head is glossy with pepper oil and shows no pooling — the oil has been absorbed evenly.
◇Smell. At serving temperature the heads carry an assertive ma la fragrance — fermented chilli, numbing pepper — without any sharp or raw edge.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies at the slow-cook stage: the temperature must hold between 70 and 80 °C for several hours — low enough that the skull retains its structure, high enough that the cheek meat becomes fully yielding.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Baijiu
From British Columbia
Spirits gin
Without alcohol
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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