Dim Sum Braised Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce

Chicken feet. The word ‘yummy’ doesn’t quite come to mind, at least not at first.

My husband loves dim sum chicken feet, but I didn’t when we first met. After a bit of playful persuasion, I tried chicken feet for the first time and found it surprisingly delicious.

You just have to get over the mental hurdle first. The lesson here? Don’t knock it until you try it. If it helps, close your eyes.

Dim Sum braised chicken feet are a clever Cantonese way to transform the least desirable part of a bird into something delicious.

If you’re new to Dim Sum, steamed chicken feet—also known as Phoenix Talons or Phoenix Claws—are one of the many classic offerings. If you don’t recognize chicken feet on the Dim Sum menu, simply say ‘Feng Zhao’ to the nice cart ladies, and you will be served a small bowl of chewy cartilage poultry goodness.

This dish is for those who love cartilage, skin, and bones, but it’s probably not the best choice for a date.

At my local Asian store, they sell whole chicken feet, toenails and all. They also offer boneless chicken feet, but I stay away from the boneless version because they look suspiciously white, which doesn’t seem natural.

Plus, the fun part of eating chicken feet is navigating around the bones.

Making Dim Sum chicken feet at home isn’t easy, but it’s worth it if you really love them. Three different cooking methods are required to achieve Dim Sum chicken feet: deep frying, braising, and finally simmering or steaming in sauce.

These methods transform leathery chicken feet into tender, gelatinous, and flavorful Feng Zhao.

To prepare the chicken feet at home, clean them properly by trimming off the toenails and exfoliating them with plenty of coarse salt. The salt will remove any surface impurities and lingering foul poultry smell.

Give the chicken feet a good rinse to remove the excess salt, then drain them completely. Now they are ready to be deep-fried.

Deep-frying chicken feet is not about making them crispy; the subsequent braising step will take away any crispiness anyway.

Deep frying puffs up the skin around the bones so that the marinade added later seeps into every nook and cranny, enhancing the flavor.

Additionally, deep frying is the only chance we get to caramelize the outside to a beautiful golden brown color.

Be careful when deep frying chicken feet. Any contact between the chicken skin and oil will cause significant splattering and popping, and it’s even worse when there’s moisture on the chicken feet.

To minimize oil splatter, make sure to dry the chicken thoroughly with paper towels before adding them to the oil. You can also place the chicken feet in the fridge uncovered for 30 minutes to an hour to help dry out the skin.

I go the extra step of coating the chicken feet in a thin layer of corn starch to absorb any excess moisture.

Heat the oil and drop in the dry chicken feet. After they are golden brown, remove them and drain on paper towels or wire rack.

The next step is to tenderize the chicken feet by braising.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, then toss in ginger slices, star anise, and the golden brown chicken feet. Let it simmer.

At this point, your simmering pot should smell very similar to the Dim Sum chicken feet found in restaurants—and to think, you have yet to add the marinade!

After simmering, drain the chicken feet. Heat a bit of sesame oil in a medium skillet, then add garlic and sauté until fragrant.

Add the marinade and toss in the chicken feet, letting it simmer until it reduces and thickens into an incredibly flavorful sauce.

You’re done. Serve and enjoy.

Print