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These braised chicken feet rival any dim sum restaurant, braised in a flavorful braising liquid then stir fried in the most amazing umami packed sauce, you’ll definitely want these on your menu!
When you dream of your favorite dishes, I’m guessing your dreams are not filled with images of feet and claws, held together with connective tissue and bones. I mean, who wants to clip the toenails off their food before cooking it? DON’T LEAVE! I PROMISE THIS WILL BE WORTH IT – JUST HANG IN THERE AND KEEP READING!
Chicken feet is an extremely popular dim sum dish and can be absolutely amazing when cooked correctly. I fell in love with this dish during my first dim sum experience, with all their gelatinous goodness.
Consisting predominantly of skin and cartilage, once you can get past the idea of eating chicken feet, you will surely be amazed by how absolutely awesome they are. Plus, it feels great knowing that we are making use of all the parts of the chicken.
Is it Healthy to Eat Chicken Feet?
Chicken feet are actually quite good for you. They are packed with collagen which is easily absorbed into the body and helps keep joint healthy and skin glowing.
How to Make Braised Chicken Feet
There are a few steps to take when cooking your chicken feet to ensure they come out tender and delicious. The first is the brine. We brine them for an extra boost of flavor, as well as to help tenderize the skin and cartilage. Yes I said it, skin and cartilage.
The next step is the braising process, or slow cooking in a seasoned liquid to break down the cartilage (again, yes cartilage) which provides the gelatinous texture we are after (yes, that’s what we are after).
Lastly, we do a quick stir fry to coat them in the most amazing sauce. Seriously, the most amazing sauce. By this time, the chicken feet have been cooked to a suck-off-the-bone tender status and the sauce is just the icing on the cake.
How Long Does it Take to Cook Chicken Feet?
It takes about 2 hours of braising for the chicken feet to become tender. Once the braising is complete, typically they are stir fried in a savory sauce (like this recipe) and served hot.
The Ingredients
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Let’s start with the brine. Pour the boiling water over the aromatics and let sit for 20 minutes. Add the sherry and about 6 ice cubes to cool the brine.
Don’t add the chicken feet until the brine has cooled – we’re not trying to cook them here…at least not yet. One cooled, let the chicken feet sit in the brine for at least 2 hours. We brine the chicken feet to help tenderize them and add flavor before braising. I don’t recommend skipping this step.
Once the chicken feet have had adequate time to brine, drain them. Then add the ingredients for the braising liquid and the chicken feet to a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer over medium-low heat for 2 hours.
Drain, reserving the liquid for other uses. DON’T FORGET TO RESERVE THE BRAISING LIQUID! This stuff is like gold.
Are Chicken Feet Good for Bone Broth?
Yes, yes yes! The broken down collagen from the braised chicken feet add an extra depth to the broth, while the wine, anise and scallions from this recipe add to the intense umami flavor.
Heat pork fat in a skillet over medium heat. Substitute any kind of fat here; I just like pork fat. Add the chicken feet and sauce ingredients.
Stir fry to coat the braised chicken feet, cooking until the sauce has thickened to desired consistency, about 10 minutes. The sauce should evenly coat each chicken foot.
And your braised chicken feet are ready to eat!
They are great served as an appetizer, as part of a dim sum meal, or with some fried rice or lo mein noodles, with wonton noodle soup or spicy szechuan green beans on the side.
Do You Eat the Bones in Chicken Feet?
No. Everything but the bones and nails (which we already trimmed during the preparation) can be eaten.
Want to try making your own Chinese food at home? Try these other delicious recipes:
Twice Cooked Pork
Kimchi Fried Rice
Shrimp Lo Mein
Mongolian Beef
Char Siu
The Best Basic Fried Rice
Kung Pao Chicken
Kung Pao Calamari
Salt and Pepper Chicken Thighs
Did you make this recipe? leave me a quick comment below and let me know how it turned out!
- 1 1/2 lbs. chicken feet claws removed
- 4 star anise
- 4 cloves
- 2 bay leafs
- 3 slices fresh ginger
- 1/2 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 cup sherry
- 3 cups boiling water
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 scallions
- 2 star anise
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 tbsp. black bean sauce
- 2 tbsp. chili bean sauce
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 1 tbsp. pork fat
- Trim the nails off the chicken feet.
- Pour the boiling water over the aromatics and let sit for 20 minutes.
- Add the sherry and about 6 ice cubes to cool the brine.
- One cooled, let the chicken feet sit in the brine for at least 2 hours. Drain.
- Add the braising liquid ingredients and chicken feet to a large sauce pan.
- Simmer over medium-low heat for 2 hours.
- Drain, reserving the liquid for other uses.
- Heat pork fat in a skillet over medium heat.
- Add the chicken feet and sauce ingredients.
- Stir fry until chicken feet are well coated with sauce, and sauce has thickened to desired consistency, about 10 minutes.
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Ah……..so many memories and before I comment on this recipe, I really must share a very funny story about this topic……
I grew up one of 8 kids in North Dakota, and boy were times hard back than. Needless to say my parents believed in nose to tail consumption long before most chefs embraced it. I ate what was put in front of me and or what I helped plant, grow, catch, clean and or prepare and chicken feet were one of those items. However much I loved them, I never did eat them again after leaving home.
So lets fast forward 12 years into my adult life, and I was living and working in Miami, FL. Due to distance and expense my kids didn’t spend much time with their grandparents, and it crushed my mother. One summer, I finally relented, and agreed to allow my two daughters, to spend 3 weeks with my folks but I could not be there….My eldest was 13 and the youngest 5-1/2.
After arranging the logistics as to how they would safely travel between the two states, off they went. On their 3rd day there, I received a frantic call from my mother at work during lunch hour….in the back ground, I could hear my youngest crying hysterically. After a few minutes, I finally understood what the problem was……and asked to speak to her.
Jo gets on the phone and before I can say a word….all I could hear were screams of “they’re eating hands they’re eating hands”. As a ‘special treat” my mother had prepared a pot of CF for lunch, and as she reached into the pot with the tongs to serve, Jo the youngest took one look at what was coming out of that pot, and started to scream…..no matter what my mother said to calm her, Jo was convinced they were about to eat “hands” and she wasn’t having any of it….LOL
So in memory of my “parents” and a food I once did love, I’m going to prepare these on Saturday…
This is such a great story LOL! I’ve had that reaction from people on more than one occasion too 🙂 I love the idea of “nose to tail” consumption. And chicken feet are soooo delicious! I hope you get to try these Deborah!! Thanks for visiting 🙂
Just like the chicken feet at the restaurant! Awesome recipe!
We had to comment on this post of course! Hong Kong style chicken feet. Never thought I would see this recipe outside of HK. Hope your week is going well. Sharing of course!
LOL! I absolutely love chicken feet since my friend introduced me to them years ago. I order them every time we have dim sum. Thanks for sharing!