What to do with... rabbit

I have been heard b*tching and moaning many, many times over about the difficulty to find rabbit in Hong Kong. Chinese people pride themselves in eating "everything that turns its back to the sun, has four legs and is not a table" (or something like that, as there seems to be several versions of that saying...), but they should really add "except if it's cute and fluffy". Rabbit is nowhere to be seen in Chinese cuisine, which I find a bit strange knowing how many culinary idiosyncrasies the French and the Chinese share (an immoderate love of frog legs and everything piggy, just to name a couple). A handful of supermarkets do stock rabbit, but the supply is irregular and generally, it's all sold out by the time the word gets to you that it's available.


Hovering at the meat counter of my favourite supermarket, I was looking for Iberico pork loin or chops to grill and thinly slice on top of a bowl of ramen, which I had decided would be on the menu for dinner, when I spotted a familiar shape from the corner of my eye. Hold on, this pale pinkiness, this long, slender leg... could this be... could this be... RABBIT ?? OMG OMG OMG!!! Here they were, a heaping pile of beautiful rabbit legs, freshly imported from France. I bought a couple and dinner plans were promptly revised to Lapin aux pruneaux (stewed rabbit with prunes).

Lapin aux pruneaux


Delicious, tasty rabbit (no, it doesn't taste like chicken...) and wonderful sauce. I am so glad there's another leg left for lunch tomorrow :-)

Lapin aux pruneaux, gently bubbling ...




The recipe recommends to use a dry white wine for the sauce. When I can find it (and today I was lucky...), I use Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine sur Lie; this is a very dry white wine from the Loire Valley which also has quite a bit of acidity, and tends to balance well with the sweet prunes in this dish.

Lapin aux pruneaux (serves 2)

2 rabbit legs, or 4 pieces of rabbit back (with the kidneys if you can get them)

2 medium shallots, thinly sliced

150gr dried prunes (“pruneaux”)

20cl dry white wine

20cl chicken broth

5cl cognac or armagnac

2 thyme sprigs

1 bay leaf

25gr butter

salt, freshly ground black pepper

Flour for coating

400gr baby potatoes, peeled

·       Place a few tbsp of flour in a plate and coat the rabbit pieces on all sides, shaking off any excess.

·       In a cocotte, heat the butter and brown the rabbit on all sides; remove from the cocotte and set aside.

·       Add the shallots in the cocotte and cook until translucent (do not let them brown).

·       Add the rabbit back in, cover with the wine, broth, the armagnac or cognac and the prunes. Add the thyme and bay leaf, season and bring to a boil.

·       Simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the potatoes in the sauce and simmer for a further 20 to 25 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked.