Phoenix claws (braised chicken feet)

I had my final assessment at TAFE for cert III in Asian Cookery today. I had to cook three dishes: steamed chicken curry buns, vegetable spring rolls, and braised chicken feet. 

What a dish to end on, braised chicken feet. I knew I wouldn’t like them. I had them once at a very nice hotel I was staying at in Thailand. I tried to eat one but just couldn’t manage to chew the thing firstly, and no matter how hard I tried my body just wouldn’t swallow it. 

Well, today was a totally different story. First off, the braising sauce was beautiful. I thought this would be fantastic with instant noodles (Ramen). I cut the nails off the feet, blanched them in boiling water (2 mins), marinated them in soy sauce (an additional 30 ml to the amount added to the braising liquor, marinate for 30 mins), deep fried them (8 mins), steamed them (30 mins), then braised them in this sauce (30 min). You want to sauce to be just reduced enough to coat the feet and not run off them before serving. You don’t want any sauce left in the pan or on the plate.

I now suspect the boiling for 2 mins and then blanching in ice-cold water is only necessary if the tough yellow outer skin is left on the chicken feet. This process helps in its removal. Usually it has already been removed and the feet look the same white colour as the rest of a chicken would look. If I make this again I will leave these steps out and just rinse them under the tap and marinate in soy sauce for 30 minutes.

For 10 chicken feet you will need the following ingredients for the braising sauce: 

• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 spring onion
• 1 small red chilli
• 20 g ginger
• 30 ml light soy sauce
• 15 ml Oyster Sauce
• 250 ml Water
• 1 star anise
• 30 ml Chinese cooking wine

OMG! They actually tasted similar to Kentucky fried Chicken but with a Chinese aromat twist and nice amount of chilli heat, and they were beautifully tender. 

It is odd eating skin and tendons and spitting out the odd small bone but it was so tasty I kept wanting more. 

Animal connective tissue (collagen) is a protein. It is tough but long slow cooking makes it soft and moist. I know that already, but I’m still used to there being some meat between the bits of connective tissue. Nevertheless, this tough connective tissue has the same amount of protein in it as muscle. Ok, it isn’t red and it the texture is completely different to muscle, but it is still just as much a protein. 

I’ve always thought of this as poor peoples food. Tough, tasteless, and not very nutritious. But this is none of those. It was tender, extremely tasty, and the same nutritional value as a T-bone steak! 

I am definitely adding this one to my repertoire. I brought them home because I already know a couple of neighbours who I think would like to try them.