WATCH | Bizarre moment cooked 'zombie' fish jumps off plate during dinner

A group of diners were left shocked when a cooked fish 'came back to life' and jumped off a plate in a Chinese restaurant.

The diners leap back from the table as the fish begins to flick its tail then jumps off the plate. The video, first appeared on Youku, a Chinese video sharing site, on Wednesday. 

This is not the first time a 'zombie' fish has caused a stir. Last year, a user posted this video on China's popular micro blogging site Weibo, which caused quite a stir:

Even headless fish have been known to 'come back to life' when you least expect it:

As strange as this might seem, it can be explained by science.

According to IFL Science, the movement comes from a chemical reaction that stimulates the fish’s muscle tissues. For some time after death, muscle motor neurons within these tissues still have some membrane potential.

Charles Grisham, a chemistry professor at the University of Virginia explained to Discovery News that adding salt (or soy sauce as in the below video) can trigger muscle spasms in very recently deceased fish.

"Even though the brain function is missing, the tissues will still respond to stimuli.," he said.