Chicken feet

This article is about the delicacy. For other uses, see Chicken foot.

Chicken feet
Chicken feet and other chicken parts for sale on a roadside cart in Haikou, Hainan, China.
Traditional Chinese	鳳爪
Simplified Chinese	凤爪
Hanyu Pinyin	fèngzhǎo
Cantonese Jyutping	fung6 zaau2
Literal meaning	Fenghuang claws or Phoenix talons (claws)
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin fèngzhǎo Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping fung6 zaau2

Chicken feet are a part of the chicken that is eaten in Mexican, Chinese, Trinidadian, Jamaican, South African, Peruvian, Dominican, Philippine cuisine and middle east. Most of the edible meat on the feet consists of skin and tendons, without much muscle. This gives the feet a distinct texture different from the rest of the chicken's meat. There are many small bones which makes it difficult to eat for some; these are often picked out before serving. Being mostly cartilage, chicken feet are very gelatinous.

Mexican cuisine

Chicken feet are a popular ingredient across Mexico, particularly in stews and soups. They are often steamed to become part of a main dish with rice, vegetables and most likely another part of the chicken, such as the breast or thighs. The feet can be seasoned with mole sauce. On occasion they are breaded and fried.

Many people will also take the chicken feet in hand as a snack and chew the soft outer skin, the inner bone structure is left uneaten.

Chinese cuisine

Chicken feet from a dim sum restaurant in Malaysia

Chicken feet are used in several regional Chinese cuisines, they can be served as a beer snack, cold dish, soup or main dish. They are interchangeably called Feng zhao (鳯爪, phoenix claws), Ji zhao (鷄爪, chicken claws), and Ji jiao (雞脚, chicken feet).

In Guangdong and Hong Kong, they are typically deep fried and steamed first to make them puffy before being stewed and simmered in a sauce flavoured with black fermented beans, bean paste, and sugar;^[1] or in abalone sauce.^[2]

In Mainland China, a popular snack bar specializing in marinated food such as "yabozi" (Duck's necks) also sell Lu ji zhao(鹵雞爪, marinated chicken feet) which are simmered with soy sauce, sichuanese peppercorn, clove, garlic, star anise, cinnamon and chili flakes. Today prepackaged chicken feet are sold, along with peanuts, sunflower seeds, chewing gums and chips, in most grocery stores and supermarkets in China as a snack, which is often seasoned with rice vinegar and chili.

Other popular recipes include Bai yuan feng zhao (白雲鳯爪）which are marinated in a sauce of rice vinegar, rice wine flavored with sugar, salt and minced ginger for an extended period of time and served as a cold dish. In Southern China, they also like to cook chicken feet with raw peanuts to make a thin soup.

To the Chinese consumers, they find it tasty to chew the soft bones and skins of chicken feet and spit the hard bones. The habit is akin to the consumption of chewing gums, which by itself have not much to eat but can satisfy the desire for munching.

Salt-baked chicken feet sold in China: vacuum-packed and ready to eat

The huge demand in China boosted up the price of chicken feet, which were often used as fodder in other countries. As of June 2011, 1KG of raw chicken feet cost around 12 to 16 yuan in China, comparing to 11-12 yuan for 1KG of frozen chicken breast. In 2000, Hong Kong, once the largest entrepôt for shipping chicken feet from over 30 countries, traded a total of 420,000 tons of chicken feet at the value of US$230 million.^[3] Two years after China joined the WTO in 2001, China has approved the direct import of American chicken feet and since then, China has been the major destination of chicken feet around the globe. ^[3]

Aside chicken feet, duck feet are also popular.^[4] Duck feet with mustard, which is often served with vinegar, fresh green pepper and crushed garlic, is a popular salad/appetizer.

Trinidadian cuisine

In Trinidad, the chicken feet are cleaned and seasoned then boiled in seasoning water and left to soak with cucumbers, onions, peppers and green seasoning until cool. It is eaten as a party dish called Chicken Foot Souse.

South African cuisine

In South Africa, chicken feet are mainly eaten in Durban and Soweto, where they are known as "walkie talkies" (together with the head) and "chicken dust", respectively.^[5] They are mostly prepared and eaten in the inner cities and townships. The feet are boiled to remove the hard skin and are then covered in seasonings and grilled. The name "chicken dust" derives from the dust that chickens create when scratching the ground with their feet.

Jamaican cuisine

In Jamaican cuisine, chicken feet are mainly used to make soup, known as chicken foot soup. The soup contains yams, potatoes, green banana, dumplings and special spices in addition to the chicken feet, and is slow cooked for a minimum of 2 hours.

Philippine cuisine

In the Philippines, chicken feet are marinated in a mixture of calamansi, spices and brown sugar before being grilled. A popular staple in Philippine street food, chicken feet are commonly known as "adidas" (named after the athletic shoe brand).^[6]

References

1. ^ Honolulu Star-Bulletin Dive In, Feet First 11 November 1998
2. ^ CNN Go 40 Hong Kong foods we can't live without 13 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-09
3. ^ ^{a b} GB.chinareviewnews.com
4. ^ Global Gourmet Hong Kong Dim Sum Dishes
5. ^ Johannesburg News Agency Chicken Feet Take Off In Soweto 31 May 2004
6. ^ Burnt Lumpia: My Adidas (August 6, 2008)