Braised Chicken feet Dim Sum style

February 06, 2015
Super easy and tasty to make dim sum style chicken feet at home.

Phoenix Claws

Chicken feet

This chicken feet dish also known as Phoenix claws is easy to make at home.
However, not everyone can stomach to even look at those scrawny feet!

But if you are one of those who enjoy having Sunday morning breakfast at your own slow, leisurely pace in one of those dim sums (or dim sims) restaurants, then you know what I am talking about!

These little morsels (like Chai Kwe, golden fried wontons and many more) could be found in one of the food carts (trolleys) being pushed around the restaurant by the waiters/waitresses, or in fancy hotels... you just place your order.


Chicken feet


Eating chicken feet is not a new experience for me. I had been having chicken feet for as long as I can remember!
At home, we usually had lots and lots of seafood (fish) but once a week, mom would treat us to chicken and beef.
Mom would buy the whole chicken (sometimes with feathers), and she'd clean the chicken and cut it into parts. She'd separate the cuts: bony parts for curry and meaty parts for deep frying.

...and kids being kids... my siblings and I, would 'fight' to reserve our favourite parts.
Usually, the bishop's nose, offals, wings and drumsticks were up for grabs! and of course chicken feet too :P


Sometimes she'd buy just feet from the butcher, and she'd make chicken feet soup.
She'd cook the feet with cinnamon sticks, star anise, ginger, onion, Chinese celery, potatoes, golden fried shallots... to make a clear broth. I loved her chicken feet soup!

My husband and son, didn't like the soup as much as my daughter and I do :D.
Well, perhaps that's for another post.

A friend once told me, that eating chicken feet is good for your knee (I had knee arthroscopy recently), it helps with arthritis!


These scrawny feet have plenty of collagen and gelatine, good for our joints (no more glucosamine :p ) and the mucous also helps the membrane lining of our guts.
...and collagen to keep me looking young too? I sure hope so ;D

Braised chicken feet



Comments

  1. I love dim sum - one of my absolute favourite brunches. My love does not stretch to chicken feet. But maybe it should. I might start with the restaurant version first before attempting to cook. Isn't it funny how we get about certain parts of the animal that we think shouldn't be eaten. My Mum comes from the North of England and we grew up eating black pudding (blood sausage) which most of my friends are horrified by - though I have seen it popping up in restaurants recently as it become trendy.

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  2. That dish looks mighty scrumptious! In the past, I have eaten chicken feet and I enjoyed them...

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  3. I can stomach quite a few of these gelatinous phoenix claws :)

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