Chicken Feet Threaten to Save the Economy

Here's something interesting from the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/business/global/16chickens.html

What a hoot. I guess it's a good thing so many of us like chicken white meat.

Before reading the article, all I could think of was Baba Yaga....

How do you cook a chicken foot?

razbry wrote:How do you cook a chicken foot?

Typically, by boiling or braising.

Though, ideally, by deep-frying, right? I can't seem to find plain fried chicken feet anywhere in Chicago, most of them are braised and covered in goop - though some appear to have been fried and covered in goop as well, but I've never had the puffy, crispy ones that I've heard about and dreamt of.

Chicken feet are mostly skin and connective tissue - I've never made the fried variety but have bought them for soup - they don't add much flavor but they REALLY offer a lot of gelatin to a broth. Great effect to have a potful going on your stove during Halloween, too - nobody has to know that the terrific broth came from the scary-looking pot!

Do you eat the whole thing, or just nibble around the claws?

OK. where's a good place to find some raw chicken feet?

It's a bit like eating the fling side of a chicken wing, only with a bit less meat and more skin. If you're the sort (like I am) who eats the wing tip as, it's very similar to that - it's the preparation that makes it different. There is a Chinese booth at Mitsuwa marketplace that sells them (the slightly goopy kind) if you want to take the plunge on the NW side.

Raw chicken feet are available most ethnic places - definitely at any Asian megamart, but places like Marketplace on Oakton sell them as well.

I'm thinking of a chicken cacciatore-style recipe. maybe brown them (to the degree possible), cook with onions, tomatoes, garlic, carrot, celery. serve with some good bread (harder to find than chicken feet).

thoughts? anyone have any non-Asian chicken foot recipes?

teatpuller wrote:OK. where's a good place to find some raw chicken feet?

I saw them at Chiu Quon Bakery in Chinatown, 2242 S. Wentworth; however, I read on Centerstage that this place is closed? Someone just posted about Mooncakes there.

Pretty sure I've seen them at HarvesTime.

Harvestime Foods
http://www.harvestimefoods.com
2632 W Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL 60625-2945
(773) 989-4400

teatpuller wrote:OK. where's a good place to find some raw chicken feet?

Garden Fresh Market, for one.

Mhays wrote:Though, ideally, by deep-frying, right?

I can't imagine anything with so little meat on it would be good fried. I figured (since I don't know how to make any Chinese dishes with them) that their best use for me would be in stock.

Katie wrote:

Mhays wrote:Though, ideally, by deep-frying, right?

I can't imagine anything with so little meat on it would be good fried. I figured (since I don't know how to make any Chinese dishes with them) that their best use for me would be in stock.

Ah, but the beauty of deep-fried chicken feet is in the resultant crispy skin & rich, softened connective tissue. Heck, as far as I'm concerned, even the bone up to the first knuckle is good eating

Man after my own heart...

ahhhh....so you do nibble them up to the claws!

Practically any good sized Mexican or other Hispanic meat market carries fresh chicken feet and cow feet. Prices generally run lower with a larger supply than HarvesTime at the large Cermak Produce store at 4234 North Kedzie, which usually stocks beef testicles and penis as well as less common pig parts for those interested in something more unusual.

The dim-sum preparation typically entails first snipping off the claws, then deep-frying the feet and finishing them off by braising them. I remember one childhood summer in Canada when my grandmother braised a huge pot of them in dark soy, dried shitakes and dried lily buds "golden needles aka gum jun" (a la soy-braised duck) and we ate them every meal.

Pie Lady wrote:

teatpuller wrote:OK. where's a good place to find some raw chicken feet?

I saw them at Chiu Quon Bakery in Chinatown, 2242 S. Wentworth; however, I read on Centerstage that this place is closed? Someone just posted about Mooncakes there.

Despite what Centerstage says, Chiu Quon on Wentworth is open for business. I don't think they sell raw chicken feet, only steamed. Most of the bakeries in Chinatown (e.g., Chiu Quon, Feida, Wan Shi Da) seem to have the feet, either steamed or red cooked. I always thought it odd that this is pretty much the only non-dough-based food that these places carry.

I used to work with a Chinese guy who would occasionally bring chicken feet to snack on. He'd laugh at me nibbling away daintily while he was crunching up the whole thing. I don't recall where he bought his favorites but they were pretty good (for chicken feet). They might have been red cooked or roasted and didn't have that pale, flabby skin of the steamed version (they weren't covered in goop either). I think they came from one of Chinatown's barbecue houses, perhaps Wing Chan or BBQ King House (both in Chinatown Square).

I think you chicken feet fans should organize a chicken foot crawl. Sample them all and tell us what you find!