Chicken Feets

Chicken feet are a part of the chicken that is eaten in Mexican, Chinese, Korean, Trinidadian, Jamaican, South African, Peruvian, Dominican, Filipino and Middle Eastern cuisine. 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.

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.

Steam Chicken

Hong Kong Style Steam Chicken
The chicken is salt marinated and is cooked its entirety in hot water or chicken broth with ginger. Other variations season the cooking liquid with additional ingredients, such as the white part of the green onion, cilantro stems or star anise. When the water starts to boil, the heat is turned off, allowing the chicken to cook in the residual heat for around 30 minutes. The chicken’s skin will remain light coloured, nearly white and, if cooked correctly, the meat will be quite tender, moist, and flavourful. The chicken is usually cooled before cutting into pieces.
Due to the simplicity of the preparation, the quality of the ingredients and timing is highly important for the success of the dish.
The chicken is served in pieces, with the skin and bone, sometimes garnished with cilantro. A classic dip is made by combining finely minced ginger, green onion, salt and hot oil. Additional dips can be soy sauce, or a chili pepper sauce.

Orange Chicken

Orange chicken is first deep-fried, and then stir-fried in a lightly sweet soy-based sauce flavored with chopped dried orange peels and garnishes with sesame seeds, scallion and dried chili peppers.

Orange Chicken