Eat Chicken Feet? Lets Give It A Try!

As it turns out, consuming chicken feet happens to have several health benefits, thanks to its key component: collagen.

Researchers at the Department of Animal Science of National Chung-Hsing University in Taiwan found that chicken feet are rich in collagen, which contributes to young-looking skin. According to the? National Library of Medicine, collagen is the most abundant protein in the body, accounting for nearly a quarter of the total protein mass. It provides strength to bones, ligaments, tendons, and scaffolding for skin wounds to heal.

However, chicken feet is not only a good source of collagen. Collagen can simply be described as a protein that acts as a glue that 'holds our body together'. The benefits are not only for the skin but also for the heart and can even improve athletic performance. Other benefits of taking collagen are:

Healthier and younger-looking skin.

It is rich in calcium and protein, without the carbohydrates.

It improves blood supply by strengthening the blood vessels.

Assist the body in metabolizing fats, therefore good for weight loss.

Slows the effect of arthritis.

Reduce pain and swelling (inflammation).

Most collagen, or collagen supplements, are expensive. Why pay so much when you can have a cheap or almost free alternative? Use chicken feet instead.

To enjoy the benefits of collagen in the chicken feet, use it in your soups, broths or in any cooking. It is also rich in hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate, which both provide health benefits.? Hyaluronic acid has a significant role in retaining skin moisture, which ultimately helps prevent skin aging. On the other hand, chondroitin sulfate is a complex carbohydrate that helps cartilage retain water. As such, its role in the treatment of osteoarthritis and other joint problems has since been determined.

How To Prepare Chicken Feet For Cooking

Are you now ready to enjoy the goodness of chicken feet? Let's get working then.

Cleaning chicken feet is quite easy but if this is your first time, it can be a bit awkward. Follow the following steps and you will soon be an expert!

1. Wash chicken feet thoroughly

2. Next, rub them with salt to remove any stubborn stains

3. Then scald the chicken feet in boiling water for about 3 minutes

4. Let it cool before you peel the yellow membranes on the feet

5. Using either a sharp knife or a kitchen scissor, chop off the tip of the claws/nails

The chicken feet are now ready for cooking.

How to Eat Chicken Feet

It depends on the dish.

For the Chinese dim sum chicken feet recipe, the feet are marinated in soy sauce, black beans, and several spices. The fun is in sucking at the bone and enjoying the juice/sauce. You bite a piece of the foot, suck, and pull off the skin. It is scrumptious if it is properly cooked and marinated, and you should eat it. Remove the small bone from your mouth and continue with the other portion of your chicken foot.

For the Mexican chicken feet recipe that is breaded and fried, the soft outer skin is chewed, but the rest of the feet are left uneaten. If chicken feet are used in soup, then eat all the parts except the bone. Alternatively, you can bite at one of the toes and suck in the juice. If it was grilled, as in Filipinos dish "adidas," then bite off the skin and eat just like a drumstick. The bone? Toss it away.

Where to Buy Chicken Feet

If you live in Asia or another country where chicken feet are a delicacy, you will have no problem. Otherwise, you can get them in most Asian butcheries. Alternatively, you can always ask your local butchers to keep them for you. Still having problems buying chicken feet? Do not worry as frozen chicken feet are now sold online! Just search and you will find many companies offering them for sale and are graded according to size. Grade A and A+ chickens will have feet between 4.7 to 6 inches (12-15 cm) in length. These frozen chicken feet must be washed and cleaned before you cook them.

But Why don't people eat chicken feet in western countries? Kwan Ng answered on Quora, 

“They are not served up directly. Chinese serve them up and they taste amazing. Not sure westerners would ever have gone to that trouble to make them taste this good. That is the sauce tastes good, I still don’t like the texture or the bones but would cook other stuff or offal in it.

Some western people, especially older used them to make soups as they make the soup silkier. Some foodies have rediscovered this.

The reason is simply that western palates are less adventurous once they became prosperous and the food chain became dominated by supermarkets and their standardization and tastes become more homogenous. Less desirable cuts have to be disguised and made into sausages etc for consumers to find them acceptable. Some people even freak out over meat looking like actual meat as they are so divorced from natural food (eg. that incident where a woman got spare ribs from a Chinese takeout and posted it on social media saying it was a dog paw because she didn’t realize ribs can have the white soft bone on it).”

It is a personal decision if you would taste chicken feet or not, keep open-minded. 

References:

https://nextshark.com/chicken-feet-extremely-good/

https://delishably.com/meat-dishes/Is-There-Any-Benefits-in-Eating-Chicken-Feet