Dim Sum Chicken Feet
Chicken Feet: the Iconic Dim Sum Dish
In Guangdong, chicken feet have come to be known as “phoenix claws”. There is a broad range of dishes and tastes that they are used to create. Among these dishes, oyster sauce chicken feet, also referred to as dim sum chicken feet, have perhaps become the most well-known. Although the cooking method can be quite particular, the result is a chicken feet dish with bright red outer skin and a tough, chewy inside that is sure to leave your taste buds satisfied.
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ pounds (750 grams) chicken feet
Seasonings
- 4 tablespoons (20 grams) ginger
- 3 tablespoons (20 grams) green onions, chopped
- 1/2 ounce (15 grams) dried tangerine peel
- 2 tablespoons (15 grams) aniseed
- 2 ½ tablespoons (30 grams) sugar
- 2 teaspoons (10 grams) salt
- 2 teaspoons (10 grams) chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 4 teaspoons light soy sauce
- 5 teaspoons (30 grams) oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- soup broth as desired/needed
- cooking wine as desired/needed
- chinese prickly ash as desired/needed
- water/starch mixture as desired/needed
- cooking oil as desired/needed
Cooking Directions
Preparations
- Wash and chop the ginger. Wash the green onions and bundle together.
- Tear off the thin, yellow outer layer of the chicken feet. Chop the feet at the toes, then wash and soak in boiling water for 3~5 minutes. Remove the chicken feet and let dry, then cover in dark soy sauce.
How to make dim sum chicken feet
- Add cooking oil to a pan, and set heat to medium. When the pan is nearly to heat, place in the chicken feet and fry until the outer skin becomes bright red.
- Soak the chicken feet in water for two hours, then remove and dry.
- Place the chicken feet in a steamer bowl, and add in the dried tangerine peel, prickly ash, aniseed, green onions, ginger, and salt along with 6 teaspoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of chicken stock, cooking wine, light soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. After mixing, add soup broth. Steam under high heat for 20 minutes in a covered pot.
- Add cooking oil to a pot and bring to medium heat, adding the steamed chicken feet along with their juices when the pot is nearly to heat. Mix in 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of chicken stock, oyster sauce, cooking wine, and soup broth. Cover the pot and braise for 2~3 minutes.
Put it all together
- Thicken some oyster sauce with a little bit of cooking starch, and sprinkle on the chicken feet.
Will Dim Sum Chicken Feet Keep You Looking Young?
The collagen found in chicken feet is the type needed by the human body to preserve bone strength.
As the body ages and is exposed to ultraviolet rays, free radicals, collagen is gradually lost. In fact, the average person will lose 1% of their collagen each year, along with a decrease in the body’s ability to produce new collagen. This combination of factors often leads to weak and brittle bones in older adults, who become especially prone to fractures and breaks. At a certain age, it becomes essential to supplement the body’s naturally produced collagen, and the dim sum chicken feet dish introduced here is a delicious way to keep the body feeling, and looking, healthy.