For some people, chicken feet are deemed as an odd part of animals, which are usually discarded. But for some other people, chicken feet are an important ingredient, which can be made into various delicacies. I belong to the latter one. Particularly, I like the wonderful snack made of chicken feet, pickled chicken feet. From the perspective of saving food, it is really necessary for us to break down our prejudices about chicken feet and take a chance to cook and taste dishes made of them. This is my ultimate guide on how to cook chicken feet.

Table of Contents

• Why there are so many haters
• Also lovers
• What’s the taste of chicken feet
• Purchasing tips
• How to eat chicken feet
• How to clean and prepare chicken feet
• Chicken feet recipes
• Red braised chicken feet
• Dim Sum Chicken Feet
• Pickled chicken feet
• Chicken feet stock
• Chicken feet soup
• Air-frying chicken feet
• 🧾Recipe
• Soy sauce chicken feet

Why there are so many haters

People from the US or Europe don't eat chicken feet because they may think that chicken feet are too dirty to eat. Also, people don’t know how to deal with chicken feet. Usually, you can find that chicken feet are made into dog treats. Another reason may be that chicken feet are not as meaty as other parts of chickens.

Also lovers

However, chicken feet are greatly beloved by people from other parts of the world. The Chinese gourmets even grant an auspicious name to chicken feet, that is “phoenix paws”. And chicken feet are cooked into cold dishes, snacks, soups, and main dishes in China. And in South Korea, people invent Korean-style spicy chicken feet. In other Asian countries, like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, dishes made of chicken feet are also quite common and popular. Even in Mexico, chicken feet are a popular ingredient, and they are mainly made into stews and soups.

What’s the taste of chicken feet

The edible parts of chicken feet consist of the skin and tendons, with little meat. The distinct gelatinous texture of chicken feet provides you with an abundance of collagen. For most dishes, chicken feet are cooked into a soft and tender texture, and absorb the flavors of seasonings or spices. Especially when chicken feet are used for making soup, after being simmered for one or two hours, the chicken feet will almost fall apart when being picked up, and you even don’t need to chew anymore.

A mouthful of gelatin will break up in your mouth with the fresh flavor of the soup. But when cooked into pickled chicken feet, a Chinese snack or cold dish, the chicken feet will offer you a chewy taste and they are usually made into a sour and spicy flavor. The skin of chicken feet is crispy and you will need a little more patience to take a bite of the tendons of the chicken feet. But believe me, each bite deserves your patience.         

Purchasing tips

When you go to the market to purchase some chicken feet, you may find that the yellowish hard skin of chicken feet is already removed. Fresh chicken feet should have white and glossy skin and also they should be in a thick and elastic texture. If you touch the chicken feet and find that the surface of the chicken feet is a little sticky, it shows that these chicken feet have been stored for too long and are not fresh enough for eating.   

How to eat chicken feet

If you have never eaten chicken feet before, here are some tips for you:

1. It is hard for you to eat chicken feet with knives and forks. The chopsticks are highly recommended. And if you don’t like using chopsticks, just use your hand with a disposable glove.
2. You can take your first bite from the toes of chicken feet. Bite one from one and the next step needs the cooperation of your tongue and mouth to separate the little bones and the skin. Spit the bones out and just enjoy the remaining part in your mouth. And I think the most important tip for you is that do not to swallow the little bone of chicken feet.

How to clean and prepare chicken feet

Before you cook chicken feet, you should clean them in the following steps:

• Remove the yellowish outer skin (ignore this step if the skin is already removed). You can put the chicken feet in boiling water for one or two minutes and then transfer them to ice water. In this way, it will be easier for you to get rid of the tough outer skin.

• Use a kitchen scissor to chop off the nails of chicken feet.

• If necessary - chop chicken feet in half or small pieces as you like if you intend to make pickled chicken feet or cold chicken feet. Just keep them as a whole if you intend to make soup or other dishes.

• Soak the chicken feet in cold water and boil for two or three minutes. You’d better put some sliced ginger and two or three spring onions in the water to ease the smell of chicken feet. If you are to make pickled chicken feet or cold chicken feet, you should blanch for about 2-3 minutes to remove the odd taste.

• Take the chicken feet out and rinse and rub them under tap water to get rid of the grease and other impurities. Thus the chicken feet are well prepared for cooking.

Chicken feet recipes

In Chinese cuisines, chickens are mainly cooked into the following dishes:

Red braised chicken feet

The chicken feet are simmered with soy sauce and spices usually including cinnamon, star anise, and scallions. The marinated chicken feet are stunning with a gorgeous brown color and a salty flavor. The smell of this dish is incredibly appetizing due to the functions of several spices.  

Dim Sum Chicken Feet

This is a classic Cantonese dim sum. The chicken feet are fried in oil, soaked in cold water, and then steamed or braised with a special sauce. The sauce is made of minced fermented black beans, garlic, and soy sauce. This dim sum is quite delicious with the unique smell of fermented black beans. It is tasted quite soft and juicy and it is easy for you to get rid of the little bones from a whole chicken foot.

Ingredients for dim sum chicken feet

• 500 g chicken feet, 12 to 15 ones
• oil for deep frying
• iced water for soaking the chicken feet
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp. fermented black beans
• 2 fresh Thai chili pepper, finely chopped(optional)
• 1 inch root ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• ½ tsp. sugar
• ½ tbsp. chili paste or doubanjiang, optionally
• ½ tsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 cup warm water for braising
• ½ tbsp. corn starch

Instruction for dim sum chicken feet

• Cut the claws off and any dirty parts on the chicken feet. You can choose to keep them as whole pieces or cut them into smaller ones.

• Then bring enough water to a boil in a large pot, add ½ teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon of rice vinegar (to avoid darkened color). Cook the chicken feet for around 2 minutes.
• Transfer out, and wash carefully. Then dry completely. This is a very important step to avoid the oil splattering out during the cooking process. If time is enough, I will recommend you place the chicken feet for air frying to make sure there is no water on the surface.

• Heat oil in a wok and add the chicken feet into deep fry until it turns dark golden brown. It is extremely important to make sure the water content is removed by the deep-frying process so the tiger skin can be achieved. It may take around 12 to 18 minutes.

• Transfer the chicken feet into iced water. And soak for around 1 hour.

• I learn this from a Cantonese chef, if you further cook the soaked chicken feet, the tiger skin can be strengthened. So place the soaked chicken feet in boiling water, and continue cooking for 8 to 12 minutes based on how soft you want them to be.

• Add dou-chi, garlic, ginger, and chili paste if using a small amount of oil. Fry over a small fire until aromatic. Add in dark soy sauce and light soy sauce.
• Pour in starch water. Let it simmer for a while.
• Return the chicken feet. Coat well, and serve hot. You can make larger batches and then re-steam them for the next serving.

Pickled chicken feet

The pickled chicken feet can seem like a cold dish or a perfect snack for you when you are watching TV. You can often buy packaged pickled chicken feet from an Asian chain store. The chopped chicken feet are pickled with the rod chillis. This snack is a little bit spicy, however, you will be attracted by the spiciness and the chewy taste of the chicken feet.

Ingredients for pickled chicken feet

• 500 g chicken feet
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 thumb ginger
• 2 tbsp. rock sugar
• 2 star anise, optional
• 600 ml water
• 3 tsp. salt
• celery, cut into section
• carrots, cut into small strips
• red onion, cut into pieces

Instructions

• Wash the chicken feet cleanly, remove the claws, and chop them in half or in smaller pieces so the flavors can be absorbed quickly.
• Put the chicken feet into cold water, add some ginger and spring onion which can help to remove the raw taste of chicken feet, and blanch for about 10 to 15 minutes. Do not cook too long, otherwise, the chicken feet will become quite soft and the skin can be spoiled.
• Take the chicken feet out, and wash them in the running water for a few minutes so as to get rid of the grease on the surface of the chicken feet. Then transfer the chicken feet into iced water. This will make the skin chewier and more elastic.

• Put the pickled chili pepper, the water of pickled chilies, ginger, garlic, salt, rock candy, Sichuan peppers, and star anise into a bowl. Stir all the ingredients to make all the flavors integrated. Taste the sauce you have made. It should be a little bit over-salty. Then let the liquid cool down aside.

• Prepare a jar and put the cooled chicken feet, chopped onion, and celery stick into the jar, and then add the above sauce into the jar. Make sure that all the chicken feet are immersed in the sauce. Seal the jar and keep it in cold storage for two days. Then your homemade pickled chicken feet are done!
• You can also make this in a large bowl and cover with a plastic wrapper.

Chicken feet stock

Also, chicken feet can be used to make stock due to the abundance of gelatin. Usually, this stock is stewed with pig bones, carrots, and corn. This stock is quite fresh and sweet.

In Korea, chicken feet are always made into Korea-style spicy chicken feet, which is quite similar to the chicken feet pot in Chinese cuisine. The main difference is the sauce. The Chinese chicken feet pot uses bean paste to make the sauce, but the Korean chicken feet pot uses Korean chili paste.

In Thailand, chicken feet are also served in various dishes, such as in a version of chicken green curry.

Chicken feet soup

A Cantonese chicken feet soup boosted with peanuts, and red dates. Chicken feet are a very popular ingredient in China, it is the most expensive part of a whole chicken. The most popular way of eating chicken feet is soy sauce chicken feet, which is a lovely snack and side dish.

Ingredients

• 10 chicken feet
• 1 cup peanuts
• 5-8 dried red dates
• 2 thumb ginger, divided
• 1 tbsp. Chinese cooking wine
• green onion
• salt to taste
• coriander

Instructions

• Wash the chicken feet carefully and cut off the nails.
• In a large pot of water, add ginger, green onion, and cooking wine. Cook the chicken feet for 2 minutes after the water boils and then transfer them out and wash them under warm water.
• Place chicken feet, red dates, ginger, and peanuts, and add around 3L water in an instant pot. If you want to use a regular pot, add around 3.5L water. For instant pot, press soup. For a regular soup pot, bring the water content to a boil and then simmer for 40 minutes.
• Season to salt based on personal preference.

Air-frying chicken feet

If you find that the cooking method of chicken feet is quite complicated, you can try some innovative cooking methods, like using an air frier, which will help you to make the cooking a bit easier.

🧾Recipe

Soy sauce chicken feet

Soy sauce chicken feet are a popular Chinese snack. The feet are usually simmered in a broth made with soy sauce, sugar, and spices. It's a great snack to share with friends and family or as an appetizer before dinner. This is widely loved by children.