Description
A dim sum where chicken feet, beautifully named 'Phoenix Claws (Fengzhua)', are fried to puff the skin into wrinkles, then braised gooey in soy/star anise sauce until the bones can be sucked dry.
Restaurants serving Braised Chicken Feet
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On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Chicken feet
- Soy sauce
- Oyster sauce
- Rock sugar
- Star anise
- Starch syrup
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- [Prep] Snip off the claws of chicken feet with scissors and wash clean.
- [Frying (Crucial)] Briefly boil feet in water with starch syrup (or honey) and vinegar, then dry. Deep-fry in 180°C hot oil (it splatters violently, so always cover with a lid).
- Immediately soak the fried feet in ice water for hours. The skin puffs up into 'wrinkles (tiger-skin state)', becoming the ultimate sponge for sauce.
- [Braising] Boil soy sauce, oyster sauce, rock sugar, star anise, cassia, chilies, scallions, and ginger in a pot.
- Toss in the wrinkled chicken feet, simmer slowly on low for 1-
- hours until the skin becomes gooey gelatin.
- Serve chilled as a cold dish, or reheated in a steamer.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Star anise and Cassia aroma
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
Chicken wings (exquisite if made with same process)
Pairing
High-end Taiwan Oolong Tea or Shaoxing wine
Trivia
[Hardcore] Has the beautiful name 'Phoenix Claws', but looks exactly like a monster's hand. But if you bravely eat it, you'll 100% get hooked on the intense spice aroma and melting collagen umami. The ultimate HK/Taiwan dim sum menu.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] Hold by hand, not chopsticks. Dexterously spit out the bones from your mouth 'chu, peh', sucking only the gelatinous skin and cartilage completely dry!
Allergen
Wheat, Chicken, Soy