Hopefully no one was offended when I published a Braised Rabbit Leg Recipe on Monday.
I wondered if anyone celebrating the Year of the Rabbit should abstain to eat any in 2011.
First thing I found might have more to do with superstition. Chinese Festival Tours in its introduction of Year of the Rabbit reports the saying that "during the year of the Rabbit pregnant women refrain from eating rabbit meat because Rabbits have harelips and it is believed that the baby will have a harelip also."
Huang Lije in Year of the Rabbit Stew (January 16, Star Online, Singapore) quotes Feng Shui master Tong Noong Chin who "feels it is better to avoid eating rabbit this year, in case one offends Tai Shui, the deity governing the Rabbit Year."
Nonetheless the article reports that a number of Italian restaurants in Singapore offer the popular Braised Rabbit Meat Pasta dish which has become a favorite with some locals.
For people wanting to cook it at home, Huang Lije writes that while supermarkets do not carry rabbit meat, specialty store Swiss Butchery offers it.
While contemplating all things rabbit, I found this creative Rabbit in Riesling with Winter Vegetables & Fresh Herbs (January 9) by Jenny of Nourished Kitchen.
Her photos are as tasty as her dish. I used one of them as an illustration.