Dish of Chicken Feet in Bean Sauce
(click to enlarge)

Chicken Feet in Bean Sauce


China - Southeast
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 8 app
****
5 hrs
Yes		 A standard in Chinese dim sum tea houses. This dish is better suited to parties or restaurants than to home use because the hassle and clean-up is as much for a small batch as for a large. Deep frying is necessary to achieve the desirable puffy texture.

1
ar
ar
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1-1/2
8
4
3
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4
3
3
1
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1-1/4
2
2
2/3
1/3
1/4
2/3
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1
1/4
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in
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cl

T
T
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c
T
t
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t
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t
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T
c
Chicken Feet (1)
Soy Sauce, Dark
Oil for deep fry (2)
-- Broth
Ginger root
Water
Star Anise
Scallion
-- Sauté
Garlic
Chili fresh (3)
Black Bean Sauce (4)
Oil
-- Sauce
Simmering Liquid
Rice Wine (5)
Sugar
Salt
Pepper
Soy Sauce (6)
Sesame Oil, dark
-- Thickener
Cornstarch
Water
Make:   -   (5+ hrs 1-1/4 hrs work)
  1. Clean and rinse CHICKEN FEET. Cut off the toenails with your kitchen shears and pick off any fragments of the yellow outer skin that may be found. Blanch 3 minutes in boiling water and quench in cold water. Drain thoroughly.
  2. Brush Chicken Feet all over with Dark Soy Sauce (the sugar in dark soy sauce is needed). Drain the feet well, then let them dry thoroughly - this is important to minimize oil splatter. Either spread on a baking sheet or in the tray they came in, overnight in the refrigerator, covered with just a paper towel. If refrigerated allow them to come to room temperature before frying.
  3. Heat Oil to 350°F/175°C in a spacious fryer. I use an Indian kadhai which contains splattering better than a wok or pan. Cover your kitchen floor with newspapers for a distance of about 4 feet. Fry Chicken Feet in batches until lightly browned (not easy to tell with the dark soy on them but they'll start to feel just a bit crispy as you push them around). Drain well
  4. Slice GINGER and place in a pot with Water, Star Anise and Scallions. Stir in Chicken Feet and bring to a boil. Simmer 1-1/2 hours, no more and no less.
  5. Sort out Chicken Feet and discard other solids keeping 1-1/2 cup of the simmering liquid.
  6. Crush GARLIC, slice and chop fine. Seed Chilis and chop fine. Mix both with Black Bean Sauce.
  7. In a spacious sauté pan Heat 1T Oil and fry Bean Sauce mix until fragrant. Stir in Chicken Feet and fry stirring gently until well coated.
  8. Stir in all Sauce Items and simmer 10 minutes.
  9. Make a slurry of Cornstarch and Water. Stir into the pan to thicken the sauce.
  10. Serve warm with tea, warm or cold with beer. These are properly eaten by picking up with chopsticks (chopstick skills needed) and start eating at the toes, one joint at a time, spitting out the bones when stripped of the edible part.
NOTES:

  1. Chicken Feet:

      Purchase thoroughly clean with the yellow scaly outer skin removed. For details see our Chicken Feet page.

  2. Oil

      You need enough oil to submerge the feet well or they will tend to spit oil all about. Use a stable, high temperature frying oil (Olive Pomace, Peanut, Rice Bran).

  3. Chili:

      Fresnos are fine, or Serranos if you want to go hotter. See our Chili Page for details.

  4. Black Bean Sauce:

      A commercial sauce can be used if you can find it, or make it at home by our recipe Black Bean Sauce  

  5. Soy Sauce:

      Chinese usually use dark soy sauce which results in a darker color and sweeter flavor. I usually use regular soy sauce as in the photo.

  6. Rice Wine:

      Use a good drinkable Chinese rice wine, lacking that use a dry Sherry. For details see our Rice Wine page.
  7. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste

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