Chicken feet is an incredibly popular street food in many Asian countries, which is typically fried, grilled, steamed, or braised before being coated with a variety of seasonings.

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I truly think chicken feet gets a bad rep, well, in the West, anyways. It’s considered as one of the lowest and dirtiest parts of the chicken, hence why you’ll typically see the feet being sold in large quantities for such an affordable price!

Apart from the stigma, chicken feet, in general, does not contain much meat anyways (which may also be undesirable).

In other parts of the world, such as Asia, chicken feet is a wonderful delicacy and beloved by many. In Chinese cuisine, it’s a popular dim sum item, sometimes nicknamed as “phoenix claws”. Koreans had also adopted the feet and tend to prepare it with a mixture of hot, sweet, and spicy seasonings, known as Dak Bal. Many parts of Southeast Asia serve the feet grilled, skewered, or fried to serve as a popular street food.

Fun fact: Filipinos tend to call this street food by the name “adidas” because the 3 claws of the feet resemble the iconic Adidas logo.

Apart from being a local delicacy, chicken feet also contains tons of collagen. My mom swears by eating the feet as it’s been great in strengthening her skin!

How to eat Chicken Feet

Chicken feet contains very little edible meat. It’s mainly composed of very soft skin, cartilage, and tendons.

To eat, simply chew off the skin and suck off the tendons and cartilage from the bones. The “palms” tend to have the most amount of fat and skin, so I like saving that part for the last bite.

Alternatively, you can also pop the whole thing in your mouth, carefully chewing the feet and spitting out the bones.

This is not a dish where you’d use knives or forks as you’d have a pretty difficult time trying to pry all the “meat” from in between the tiny bones. Hands or even chopsticks are the right way to go to eat chicken feet!

Craving more EASY Asian snacks and side dishes? Here’s some more that you might like:

Toasted Garlic Bok Choy
Chili Oil Sinangag (Filipino garlic fried rice)
Atchara (Filipino pickled papaya salad)
10-Minute Cold Tofu

Ingredients

Chicken feet: You can purchase chicken feet in the meat section of most Asian groceries. You may also ask your butcher if they happen to keep any for spare after butchering parts of the chicken.

Soy sauce: Soy sauce will form the basis of our braising liquid. It will provide the needed savoriness to infuse the chicken feet with while it’s softening.

Vinegar: This is one of the most popular Filipino ingredients to give our braising liquid a bit of acidity and tang. Feel free to use standard white vinegar, coconut vinegar, or even cane vinegar.

Garlic, black peppercorns, bay leaves: This will help infuse our chicken feet with flavorful aromatics and help remove any possible gamey-ness from the feet itself.

Brown sugar: To balance out the acidic and savory notes of our liquid, we will need to add some brown sugar to mellow out all of those bold flavors.

Instructions

Using kitchen shears, cut off the nails from the feet and give them a quick rinse under cold water.

Place the feet in a deep pot. Pour in water, soy sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, and brown sugar. Bring this to a boil, then simmer for 1 hour with a lid, or until the feet are tender and no longer chewy.

After 1 hour, drain the braising liquid and let the feet air dry for at least 10 minutes.

In a separate pan or wok, gently fry the minced garlic in a shallow amount of oil until golden and toasted. Scoop out the toasted garlic and reserve.

Saute the shallots and chili flakes until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.

Add in the braised feet, then season with dark soy sauce, sugar, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir-fry and toss until the chicken feet are fully coated in the seasonings, about 2 minutes.

Finally mix in the reserved toasted garlic and the chopped green onions. Stir-fry for additional 1 minute until the garlic and green onions are evenly distributed.

Serve immediately with an ice-cold drink!

Don’t skip the prep work!

The most important part of this recipe is the braising. Braising for at least one hour ensures that the skin and fat are completely tender.

I found that around 45-60 minutes of braising time was the sweet spot for chicken feet.

Anything less, and the feet turn out extremely rubbery and chewy. Anything more, and you end up with slightly mushy and pulverized feet.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

What do chicken feet taste like?

In full honesty, they don’t have that much of a strong flavor profile. How you prepare the chicken feet, and whatever spices and seasonings you braise and stir fry the feet with will have a direct impact on how they will taste.

What is the texture?

Chicken feet, in general, is somewhat gelatinous, with a soft and tender texture (when prepared right). If your chicken feet is either too rubbery or mushy, it was most likely undercooked or possibly overcooked, respectively.

How do I store leftovers?

Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container.

To reheat, you may microwave, steam, or gently stir fry the chicken feet until fully warmed-through.

What do I serve this with?

Chicken feet is typically eaten as an appetizer in most of Asia, though sometimes it may be part of a larger main dish (e.g., soups, porridges).

In the Philippines, it’s popular to consume chicken feet as a pulutan, or a type of appetizer/finger food accompanied with an alcoholic drink such as beer.