Where can you get chicken feet these days? Especially here in Sacramento. I thought it was illegal to sell them. I love chicken feet. My mom used to put them in her chicken soup all the time when I was a child.

The American Poultry Company on Broadway at 3rd in Sacramento is where I got these. ~Elise

I definitely plan on trying this recipe this weekend, but I won't deny the idea of touching chicken feet still makes me cringe a bit. Not sure how I'm going to pull this off.

BUT... GREAT recipe and thank you for it! You're absolutely right. I can't believe we let chicken feet go to waste!

My grandmother came from Poland to Canada in the 1920's. One of my warmest memories (in the 50's and 60's)of her home was soup from chicken feet (she didn't use the bay leaf or the peppercorns). And we always "stole" the cooked feet afteward to suck on.
You're right: it has an absolutely unique flavour and is truly delicious.
Thanks for memories!

Wow, talk about a blast from the past.

Every time I tell anyone about using feet they look at me like I'm crazy. I remember my grandmother and great aunts making soup from chicken feet too. It was the richest, most flavorful stock you can imagine.

For any readers that are skeptical, don't be. It's the most luxurious broth you'll ever have.

Thanks Elise. This brings back many happy childhood memories and a hankering for that great broth too!

No where in the list of ingredients do I see chicken lips. Perhaps that's a "West Coast" thing. ;)

Aside from that, thank you for removing the chicken's shoes prior to making this. That often overlooked step enhances both the clarity and flavor of the stock.

That reminds me. I need to clip my dog's toenails.

When I went to China I discovered that chicken feet are are considered quite a delicacy there. They appeared to be deep fried, and were served with some type of sauce (maybe black bean sauce, I can't remember for sure.

Am I weird for finding those feet really cute?

Grandma used everything but the oink when she butchered a pig. I don't remember her using chicken feet for stock though. She might have and I just don't remember it. Thanks for the recipe Elise.

That is the creepiest picture I've ever seen! ;-)

Oh no, this one is much creepier. ;-) ~Elise

Chicken feet are a very common dish enjoyed by the Chinese, most often braised or stewed, or in soups. As you note, the gelatin gives it that special richness missing from using a normal chicken carcass for stock. Another popular delicacy is de-boned chicken feet eaten in a chilled sour-ish Asian salad. Yum!

I use wings and get a similar result.

Great pictures. I don't know that I will ever try this recipe, but reading it and seeing the pictures is definately worth while!

I just recently made stock with chicken feet and it was delicious. There's an hispanic supermarket chain called Pro's Ranch Market in Phoenix, Texas, and California that sells chicken feet.

Wow, Elise, this is an incredibly helpful post. I was reading on another blog recently that feet make the best stock (for beef and chicken), so now I know how to make it! They do look kind of like hands though! :-(

Quick question -- how long with this stock keep in the fridge and/or freezer?

Usually with stock, we'll keep it in the fridge for a week, and then if we haven't used it we'll bring it to a simmer for 10 minutes, let it cool, and then it will keep for another week. If you want to freeze the stock, you should skim the fat off the top first, before freezing, and then I think it can last for months. We don't ever freeze stock because we go through it so quickly. ~Elise

Nope, sorry Elise, this one won't make it into my cookbook. I saw fried chicken feet on a Chinese buffet once and that was the last time I ever went there. My father used to swear by pickled pigs feet until he brought some home in a gallon jar - we threw it out after it grew mold (about 2 years later).

Nope, my rule sticks - nothing that could ever lick me, kiss me, or kick me, or organ meats. Something has to go into dog food! Load up on the unique fruits, veggies, and spices, but keep my meats clean and pure.

That's funny, I have a jar of pickled pigs trotters in the pantry just for my mother. I won't touch them, don't like the taste, but she loves them. ~Elise

I chuckled when I read about making stock from chicken feet. My Mom always included them when making soup. Delicious! The chicken feet I mean. A friend came over in the middle of butchering chickens and wanted to help clean them but couldn't handle touching the feet. She insisted on putting rubbers gloves over her hands. Her comments were hilarious! Yea for chicken feet!

My Mom put the chicken feet in her soup too. She never made a soup broth exclusively from chicken though. My mother always used stewing hens for making chicken soup, the older ones that were no longer good layers. They would always have egg yolks inside them too, of various sizes, that would have gone in an egg if the chicken lived long enough. When the soup was almost done, my mother added those yolks in the soup too, we fought over them!!!

One further word about chicken feet. If you do purchase them, either purchase them already "peeled" as in the picture OR you will have to attend to that process to yourself. Since my mother butchered her own chickens, she also peeled the feet, how though escapes me.

Good point on the peeling of the feet. I looked into it and apparently it's pretty easy to do and part of the reason to boil them first for 5 minutes. After the first boil, and then rinsing, you can easily slip of the outer (yellow) layer of skin. ~Elise

I have always wanted to try this. Thanks.

COULDN'T WE HAVE DONE WITHOUT THE FEET!

Man that stock looks fantastic! I have no dea where I'd get chicken feet, but it's roughly the same method I use with necks and wings that are left over from cutting down chickens.

You are right! It looks like a little disformed baby hand on that picture where you hold it :o
But I want to try anyways! I guess it is easier than cooking live lobster...

I was in a Mexican super store and saw that they had chicken feet. The store is called La Superior.

The La Superior in Sacramento? Great store. ~Elise

I actually remember my Mom using them when I was younger. I know that I'm far too detached from my food to actually do it myself - but I remember soups made with them being so, so good.

Thanks for the great info on the feet.
Do you have any info on using the head?

My grandmother also used to make her stock from chicken feet, sometimes mixed with the necks. It really was good stuff! I remember how we used to gnaw on those feet afterwards. Most kids would find that gross nowadays, but we thought it was a treat!

My grandmother used to make "braised" chicken feet and to this day, I love them :)

Sweet! I never use all chicken feet in my stock, but I always try to use a few. I just made two gallons of wild duck broth and used about 40 duck feet in that batch. One tip: Use a cleaver to roughly hack up the feet, which releases even more gelatin.

Hi Elise, regular reader and first-time poster here. I am from Singapore and have tried a number of your recipes already with good results (thanks!!). I must chime in with the others who have talked about chicken feet in Chinese cuisine. My Chinese grandmother used to boil these into a soup with peanuts. As a child, I could not get over the ewww factor of seeing the feet, but I have to admit, the taste of that rich, nutty stew has more depth than any other kind of chicken soup I have tried.

HAHA! That picture just brightened my day!

I am not Chinese, but I did not know a chicken had meat above their knees until I was 21 years old. Very Very goooood eating. Pigs feet too.

I know we can buy chicken feet at at least one of our local butchers' shops. But I haven't examined them all that closely to see whether they are peeled or not. We've often bought necks and backs (they sell huge bags of them for $1.00) that we oven roast before making into stock. It turns out pretty gelatinous but perhaps not quite as much as in your chicken feet stock. (And it is a great base for soup!)

Does anyone ever roast rather than boil peeled feet before making them into stock?

-Elizabeth

Thank you so much for this post. I see chicken feet all the time at two stores here but not sure what to do with them. I know they are used for making stock but how. Now I know. My weekend project, thanks again.

Elise, these pictures are very disturbing!
My mom kept the feet in the chicken soup, for she loved to suck on them--only her, nobody else. ;-)

Have to pop in on this one ... one New Year's eve, my dear friend brought a 'mystery' dish to share. "It deserves your finest serving dish," she requested, "and don't peek!" Imagine my surprise when I uncovered my prized flow blue casserole to discover ... chicken feet ... with bright-red painted toenails!

Just found this page looking for a different recipe and couldn't resist reading this article... my first thought was similar to the many who connected the chicken feet with Chinese cuisine. My mother is from Taiwan and LOVES to get chicken feet when we go to eat dim sum. As a matter of fact, when my husband and I were dating, we took him with to dim sum... you can only imagine the look on his face (he was raised in northern Wisconsin) when he was offered the chicken feet! But he tried them and forever went down in my mom's book as approved by her! I love trying new recipes and if this stock is as wonderful as you say, I can't wait to try it!!

Hi, I really like your blog, but I must say, that picture of chicken feet is the nastiest thing I have ever seen. It does not turn me off to your blog, but I had to say something. haha :)

Wow, thanks for posting this!
I have to admit, I'm a little grossed out by the little claws and all, but I'm all for using the whole animal.
Looking forward to trying this, once I locate some chicken feet in my area.

Oh! disgusting! You made me look.

Now where do I get tofu chicken feet.... ;) haha. Sorry, couldn't resist. But you know I love your blog.
-B

Growing up, my dad would always request my mom to cook chicken feet and the preparation is similar to your recipe with the addition of fresh ginger slices. I think this was to remove the "fishy" taste from the chicken feet.
Most local Chinese restaurants here in the Philippines would serve chicken feet in a sweet chilli sauce, steamed with black beans or a sweet barbeque. This is also served as a popular street food that is grilled. We call them "Addidas".

I would pay or trade just abount anything to obtain a recipe of Chinese Dim Sum Chicken Feet in black bean sauce as served in Vancouver B.C. Canada Dim Sum Chinese restaurants. Any help greatly appreciated. John Kriss

I am Asian and you could always find chicken feet soup on my grandmother's table. The broth is great. The gelatinous texture of the cooled broth reminds me of broth made with oxtail, very concentrated and rich. I haven't had chicken feet soup in years and am tempted to try this recipe. Thanks.

Mmmm... this makes me crave chicken feet soooooo badly! Glad its Lunar New Year on Thursday, my mom makes pickled chicken feet everytime! Thanks for the stock recipe Elise!

I couldn't imagine the kind of stomach it takes to chop off the little toenails/tips of the feet. Pretty hypocritical of me, yes, but I just couldn't do it myself. This would really make me realize I am eating another animal, similar to myself...chicken feet have probably turned some people vegan.

This is by far the BEST IDEA / recipe I had read this year. I never thought of using chicken feet to make stock!!! Thankyou for sharing your ideas.

I have bone loss and I took a class with
Jeanette Turner, at the Wedge coop in
Minneapolis, MN. One of the great sources
of calcium is to simmer a couple pounds
of chicken feet for 24 hours. The stock
is a great calcium source and I freeze it
and add to much of my cooking.

Adele Davis suggests adding a little vinegar to the stock when cooking, if you want more calcium extracted from the bones. You might need to add a little salt to offset any taste of the vinegar. This way you wouldn't have to cook the bones 24 hours, but the standard 4-6. ~Elise

Heavens! Those photos are something else!

I can probably get chicken feet from the farmer I get meat from; I'll have to ask him about it. I've never heard of using chicken feet before, but my mother adored pickled pigs' feet—and tripe. I would not go near either item!

I really love this entry, but especially the pictures. I imagine you having a lot of fun taking them.

When I was in Africa several years ago, my team carefully looked in our soup bowls upon presentation. Whomever had the chicken feet (as well as the chicken head) had won the prize! I had no idea people here used them as well.

I hope they're tasty because they look disgusting... They looked creepy raw but then I scrolled down and saw them cooked... yuck! Raw, they looked like "witches hands" but cooked, they actually looked more "human-like"... I'll leave them for others to enjoy...

I never thought I'd see this recipe on a website!I've been eating chicken feet & rice all of my life. I was raised by my grandmother(she was born in 1902, now deceased), & I make them @ least twice a yr. My kids won't eat the actual feet,but they sure enjoy the rich, savory broth over rice. Having a bowl of rice with the broth & 2 or 3 feet always makes me feel loved & cared for @ my "Grammo's" kitchen table again.

I remember when Garrett mentioned your buying chicken feet on his blog, so I've been waiting for a recipe. I can find chicken feet in New York City at Bravo Supermarkets, which are all over town in largely Hispanic neighborhoods.

I grew up in the country and my aunt used chicken feet to make broth for chicken and dumplings also she fried them. They were was delicious. I now live in Los Angeles and I love to go for Dim Sum, where they have chicken feet, braised or deep fried with a dipping sauce. Don't knock it until you try it.
You can buy chicken feet in most Latino markets in Los Angeles.

How do you use the gel/stock afterwards? Do add it to thinned chicken stock? Reheat it? Add water?

Fascinating! I'm going to have to try this for sure!

Just reheat it. If you have reduced it substantially to begin with, you may need to add some water to it. Just go by taste. ~Elise

Yes, I confirm everything you say. Also my grandmother, who was born in 1892 and lived to 98 years, loved chicken feet...

I cannot but laugh. My husband and I visited super store yesterday , and there they where - chicken feet. They where a little bit of an attraction in the store, and people were stopping for a short period of time and then leaving with a shocked face, most of them shaking their head. LOL Yes it was a blast from the past for us to. There was no chicken soup without chicken legs when we were growing up. My baba made sure that I get the leg in my plate, as I loved to nibble on the little bones :))
Wow that was long time ago :)))

This post surprise-me!
Chicken feet soup is my husband's favorite. As I never found it in regular supermarkets, I used to buy it in asian markets.

The coolest food-related picture I have seen in quite some time - although a bit creepy ;)

A good question here is why are some of us bothered/disgusted, I feel it too a bit, and then I think how much I enjoy the gizzard which logically has a better claim on disgust, don't you think. Are chicken guts used for pet food, fertilizer? Answer to Mbash1944 AT yahoo.com please.

Eww! That was my first thought, my second...you are awesome. I don't know anyone that would try this. I don't know that I could do it, but now thanks to you I know how. Thank you!! I am going to link to this so all of my readers can learn as well. :)

In Barbados, my grandmothers maid always makes chicken stock with the feet. She soaks them in lime and salt for about 30 mins first, and then scrubs them. That's the cleaning part.

The reason to cut off the toenails, is otherwise they will end up in your soup.. not v. enjoyable;-(

I was told to cut the toes off because there is a gland underneath them that is really bad for you...

Well that's an interesting theory. Never heard that one before. ~Elise

This is a great recipe for the chicken feet (aka "Phoenix Talons") that you get at Dim Sum restaurants. There's pretty much no meat here, it's all about the tasty sauce & skin being sucked off the bone. Not for the chicken-hearted, ha ha...

1 pound chicken feet
2 quarts oil
2 quarts water
1 ounce fresh ginger
3 pieces star anise
2 ounces Chinese parsley roots
2 ounces maltose sugar (see note)
Marinade:
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sake
1 ounce chopped chile pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon black bean sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame seed oil

Heat the oil and mix the chicken feet with maltose sugar. Fry them until they are golden brown. It should take about 7 minutes. Remove the feet and drain.

Boil water and add ginger, star anise, parsley roots & marinade. Add the chicken feet. Bring the mixture to a boil again. Then reduce the heat and simmer them for 90 minutes, until feet are glazed.

Delicious!

Wow! How scary and freaky and totally awesome is this picture!?! Love it.

Hi, Elise! Great post. I decided to try and replicate your feet-based stock, and it was delish! Here is the link to the post on my blog if you care to check it out:

http://lindseysluscious.blogspot.com/2008/04/hottest-new-food-trend.html

Thanks again! --Gina