Chicken feet are cooked and eaten in many countries. After an outer layer of hard skin is removed, most of the edible tissue on the feet consists of skin and , with no muscle. This gives the feet a distinct gelatinous texture different from the rest of the chicken meat.
Around the world
China
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
Fèng zhǎo (鳯爪, phoenix claws),
Jī zhǎo (鷄爪, chicken claws), and
Jī jiǎo (雞脚, chicken feet).
In Guangdong and Hong Kong,[Shimabukuro, Betty.
"Dive In, Feet First" , Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 11 November 1998.] or in abalone sauce.
In mainland China, popular snack bars specializing in marinated food such as yabozi (duck's necks) also sell lu ji zhua (鹵雞爪, marinated chicken feet), which are simmered with soy sauce, Sichuanese peppercorn, clove, garlic, star anise, cinnamon, and chili flakes. Today, packaged chicken feet are sold in most grocery stores and supermarkets in China as a snack, often seasoned with rice vinegar and chili. Another popular recipe is bai yun feng zhao (白雲鳯爪), which is marinated in a sauce of rice vinegar, rice wine flavored with sugar, salt, and minced ginger for an extended period and served as a cold dish. In southern China, they also cook chicken feet with raw peanuts to make a thin soup.
The huge demand in China raises the price of chicken feet, which are often used as fodder in other countries. As of June 2011, 1 kg of raw chicken feet costs around 12 to 16 yuan in China, compared to 11–12 yuan for 1 kg 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.[ 中国入世 香港「鸡脚港」失守, China Review News, 21 November 2005.] Two years after joining the WTO in 2001, China approved the direct import of American chicken feet, and since then China has been the major destination of chicken feet from around the globe.
Aside from chicken feet, duck feet are also popular.[ "Hong Kong Dim Sum Dishes" , Global Gourmet, January 2007.] Duck feet with mustard, which is often served with vinegar, fresh bell pepper, and crushed garlic, is a popular salad/appetizer.
Eastern Europe
In
Russian cuisine, Ukraine,
Romania, and
Moldovan cuisine, chicken feet are cleaned, seasoned, and boiled, often with vegetables, and then cooled, to make an
aspic called kholodets in Russian and Ukrainian, and
piftie or
răcitură in Romanian. The legs are not always eaten, however, the chicken is cooked with its legs, as they contain a high amount of
gelatin.
Indonesia
In Indonesian cuisine, chicken feet are known as
ceker, and it is a common popular delicacy in
Indonesia, especially in
Javanese cuisine. The most common way to serve chicken feet in Indonesia is in a spicy traditional soup called
soto, nevertheless, the Chinese style
dimsum chicken feet are also available in some Chinese restaurants in Indonesia.
Soto ceker is chicken foot served in rather clear yellowish spicy
soto broth soup, which uses spices including ground
shallot, garlic,
galangal, ginger,
candlenut, bruised
lemongrass,
daun salam (Indonesian bay leaf) and
turmeric that add the yellowish color, served with cabbage, celery, rice noodles, and garnished to taste with
sambal, lime and soy.
is one of the popular
street food in Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya, Bandung, and most of the major cities in Indonesia. In street-side
warung or humble restaurants,
soto ceker is usually offered as a variation of popular
soto ayam (chicken soto), which employs the identical soup base with chicken soto. A popular
soto ceker stall such as Soto Ceker Pak Ali in Gandaria Street, South Jakarta, can use up to 40 kilograms of chicken feet every day, although the stall is only open from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., and can reap Rp 5 million (US$360) in sales each day.
Another popular way to prepare chicken feet is serving it in a simple soup ( sop or sup) called sop ceker, which mainly contains chicken broth, chicken feet, vegetables, especially potato and carrot, shallot, garlic, and black pepper. The deep-fried peeled chicken feet, which have been separated from their bones, might be served as a crispy snack treats as kripik ceker (chicken feet crackers).
In Indonesia, soft peeled boneless chicken feet are a popular choice for baby food — given to babies between 6 and 12 months old. It is often served as nasi tim: steamed rice with boneless chicken feet, mashed liver, and vegetable broth.
Jamaica
In Jamaican cuisine, chicken feet are mainly used to make chicken foot soup.
The soup contains yams, potatoes, green bananas,
, and special spices in addition to the chicken feet, and is slow-cooked for a minimum of two hours. Chicken feet are also curried or stewed and served as a main part of a meal.
Kenya
In Kenyan cuisine, chicken feet are known as Virenjee and it is a common delicacy in Kenya. The feet are submerged in hot water so the outer skin can be removed by peeling it off. Then the legs are covered with seasonings and grilled
Korea
In Korea, chicken feet are known as
dakbal (닭발), and grilled or stir-fried with hot chili sauce. There are many types of cooking methods, including bone-free, cooked with soup, and so on. They are often eaten as
anju (food served with alcohol).
Kosher
Chicken feet are commonly used as a main or supplementary ingredient in
kosher chicken soup.
Malaysia
Chicken feet are also known as
ceker in
Malaysia and are traditionally popular mostly among
Ethnic Malays of
Javanese people, Chinese, and
Thai people descent. Many traditional Malay restaurants in the state of
Johor offer chicken feet that are cooked together with Malay-style curry and eaten with
paratha. In the state of
Selangor, chicken feet are either boiled in soup until the bones are soft with vegetables and spices or deep fried in
palm oil. Chicken feet are also eaten by Malaysian Chinese in traditional
Chinese cuisine cooking style.
Mexico
Chicken feet (also known as "patitas") 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
Chicken 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, while the inner bone structure is left uneaten. Another such popular snack is chicken necks (also known as "pescuezos") that are usually sold by street vendors and accompanied with salsa Valentina (hot sauce).
Myanmar
In Myanmar chicken feet are most commonly eaten in salads and soups.
Philippines
In the
Philippines, chicken feet are
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
Adidas). Chicken feet is also an ingredient in
Philippine adobo.
Portugal
In
Portugal, chicken feet are popular in the
Azores. Normally cooked into a fried rice with spices and olive oil or accompanied with a side of rice. It can be stewed with beans or made as a one pot dish. Cilantro is added in mainland Portugal for additional taste.
South Africa
In South Africa, chicken feet are mainly eaten in townships in all nine provinces, where they are known as "maotwana
Sesotho or amanqina" (together with the head, intestine, hearts and giblets), "runaways"," and "Amanqina" (in isiXhosa)
[ Chicken Feet Take Off In Soweto , Johannesburg News Agency, 31 May 2004.] The feet are submerged in hot water, so the outer layer of the skin can be removed by peeling it off, and then covered in seasonings and
grilling. The name "chicken dust" derives from the dust chickens create when scratching the ground with their feet. They are often eaten as a snack.
Thailand
In Thai cuisine, the chicken feet are served in a variety of dishes, such as in a version of chicken
green curry.
Trinidad
In
Trinidad, the chicken feet are cleaned, seasoned, boiled in seasoned 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.
Egypt
In
Egypt chicken feet were only introduced recently to the Egyptian dining table because of its cheap prices, in 2022
Egypt's National Nutrition Institute posted several "budget-friendly, protein-rich food alternatives," including chicken feet
,Egyptian newspapers and news websites also published reports discussing the "benefits of chicken feet," citing the National Nutrition Institute's website on the matter,Some have said that this media campaign aimed to convince people to eat cheap foods instead of meat and poultry, whose prices, like those of other commodities, are rising significantly
See also
External links
