I love chicken feet, gooey, gooey chicken feet. Fung jaoi in dim sum, I'm the only 1 that eats it when we get it. I just discovered fung jaoi is chicken feet not duck feet (which is more webby).
I teased my sister right after college, because I knew how to buy, wash, clean and cut (& roast) a chicken before she did. I'm a very skilled chicken chopper, love to pound that cleaver and basically slurp up all the little loose pieces of skin before they get on the serving plate. Maybe that's nothing to brag about and no wonder so many people buy roast chicken from Boston Market.
Every time we go to my mother-in-law's we come home with tons of food and groceries (too bad she doesn't know half of it goes in the garbage). Tons of oranges that are dry and food she got at the senior citizen center, (old people freeze the little cartons of milk so their dear, dear grandchildren can have milk.............). Well this time, she gave us home made winter melon soup (yay) and even better.............HOME MADE CHICKEN FEET!!!!!!!!! Yay, yay, yay, yum, yum, yum.............Only to get home and see, WHAT, she DIDN'T chop the toe nails off? How could you? That's disgusting, i can't eat chicken feet with the toenails still on them! Didn't your mother teach you how to chop off the toe nails from the chicken feet (& scrape away the crap in the middle of the claw? According to my mother, that's literally crap because they walk around in it all day long.
With the toe nails on, not only are they dirty (unsanitary), but disgusting - how could you put that in your mouth. They look like delicate women's fingers. Now all they need is nail polish. I ate one and threw the rest away because I felt like I was eating some ladies' hand.
Moral of the story, if you want chicken feet, make it yourself. Even my sister knows how to chop the toe nails off when she uses the feet for soup stock (she doesn't eat them). And for the record, I'm very good at chopping the toe nails off so they don't go flying all over the counter.
Intuitive, Independent, Invincible, Frequent traveler, lover of life.
5 comments:
You had me lol on this one. I used to love eating chicken feet too at dim sum, but now, not as much for some reason. It's probably more cerebral than related to taste, just like I used to love eating fried frogs legs from Nathan's as a kid, but now won't touch it. I can foresee your sister toasting you for this talent at one of your milestone birthdays in the future. You go girl! :)
--Margaret
What a timely entry! I am picking up 3 pounds of chicken feet from Polyface Farms today. Please call me or email me very specific directions on scraping the middles and delicious recipes. I knew about chopping off the toe nails, not about the scraping. Auntie Jinnie told me to add them to spareribs with black beans and garlic. Remove the spareribs when done, and continue cooking the feet until tender. What are your suggestions?
Auntie Ellen
there is a "lump" of dead skin smakc in the middle of the foot (where your palm would be). Jus ttake a pairing knife or any knife and cut the lump out or scrape it off. You can just imagine Mommy saying, "now you don't want to eat that if chicken have been walking around all day in that!"
Suggest you do what Auntie Jinnie says. Slow cook for at least an hour , then try it. May need more time. Definately black beans and garlic. The kind in dim sum are fried, that's why there's so much coating to slurp off! Enjoy!
You are WAY more woman than I ever thought you were.
And you never made them for us! Ken eats them. Not me. The things you learn about someone...
Love the blog
Lucy
Post a Comment