Delicious Chicken Feet Soup Recipes: Traditional Chinese Delicacies

Chicken feet soup demonstrates the resourcefulness of the Chinese to use every part of an animal for food. It is easy to make and good to drink.

I grew up eating chicken feet so even though they may not look very nice I do not find them repulsive. Although their reputation is not helped by the way they are packed and presented at the supermarkets.

I know that chicken feet are not a common ingredient in the West. But many North-asian countries love them. The feet are sold separately from the chickens. There is an outer layer of skin that can be quite tough. This needs to be removed during preparation. The nails are also to be removed.

The edible parts of the feet tissue on the skin and tendons. There is no meat on the feet. After cooking, the feet have a gelatinous texture. There are several common techniques for cooking chicken feet; in soup, braised or stewed, deep-fried and steamed.

Chicken feet soup is reputed to be good for maintaining beautiful skin because of the high levels of collagen. The collagen that we eat may not end up in our skin, but they are definitely tasty.

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Chicken Feet Soup Recipes

Peanut chicken feet soup

Ingredients

• 30g Solomon’s seal 玉竹 (yu zhu) (affiliate link)
• 2 pairs chicken feet
• 2 tbsp dried peanuts (affiliate link)
• 3 to 5 dried red dates (affiliate link)
• Dash of cooking wine 绍兴酒 (shao xing jiu)
• Pinch of salt
• Dash of vinegar

Directions (for double boiling jar)

1. Wash and clean the solomon’s seal. Cut into shorter strips if they are too long
2. Soak the solomon’s seal, red dates and peanuts in room temperature water before using them
3. Clean the chicken feet by removing the outer skin layer and trimming the claws (if not done so by your friendly supermarkets)
4. Place chicken feet and solomon’s seal and peanuts in the chinese double boiling jar
5. Add enough water to cover the ingredients
6. Place the double boiler in a pot
7. Bring the water to the boil then lower to a simmer for an hour
8. Add the cooking wine and salt
9. Add a dash of vinegar before serving

Chicken feet soup with white fungus and apple

Ingredients

• 6-8 chicken feet
• 250g lean pork
• 2 apples
• Half a piece of dried white fungus [https://amzn.to/3UpgF2l – affiliate link]
• 5 dried figs [https://amzn.to/49JFn1Z – affiliate link]
• 2 candied dates [https://amzn.to/4aHT9Ua – affiliate link]
• 2 slices ginger (optional)

Directions

1. Clean the lean pork and cut into small cubes
2. Clean the chicken feet
3. Parboil both in water for 2 minutes
4. Wash the apples and cut into cubes
5. Soak the dried white fungus until rehydrated, tear into smaller pieces
6. Place all the ingredients into a soup pot
7. Add water to cover all the ingredients
8. Bring the water to a boil before lowering to medium heat
9. Simmer for about 30 minutes
10. Loswer the heat further to gently simmer for another hour.
11. Add salt to taste before serving.

Choosing chicken feet

Fresh chicken feet are pale and shiny. They should feel bouncy and not slimy. They may already be processed with their hard skins and nails removed.

Soak them in water to get rid of any dirt and grit. If the nails have not been trimmed, trim them.

Deboning chicken feet

It is not necessary to remove the bones from chicken feet but if you ever need to, here’s how to do it. Always debone cooked chicken feet, never the raw ones.

Happy souping!