The Best Chinese Chicken Feet Recipe for Dim Sum

4.55 from 35 votes

The Best Chinese Chicken Feet Recipe for Dim Sum

Try this ultra flavorful way to make dim sum chicken feet right at home! This simple braised chicken feet recipes comes out amazing tender and delicious.

Prep Time20

Cook Time2 10

Brine2

Total Time4 30

Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings: servings

Calories: 340kcal

Author: Danielle Wolter

Ingredients

1 ½ pounds chicken feet claws removed
1 tablespoon cooking oil

Brine

4 star anise
4 cloves
2 bay leafs
3 slices fresh ginger
½ cinnamon stick
½ cup Shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine)
3 cups boiling water

Braising Liquid

½ cup dry white wine
2 scallions
2 star anise
4 cups chicken broth

Sauce

2 tablespoons black bean sauce
2 tablespoons chili bean sauce
2 teaspoon sugar

Instructions

First, cut off all the claws and scrub them well under cold water.
Pour the chicken feet in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, drain and rinse thoroughly. Also, if they still have the yellowish skin on, you should be able to easily peel it off after blanching.

Brine Chicken Feet

Pour the boiling water over the aromatics and let sit for 20 minutes.
Add the sherry and about 6 ice cubes to cool the brine.
One cooled, let the chicken feet sit in the brine for at least 2 hours. Drain.

Braise Chicken Feet

Add the braising liquid ingredients and chicken feet to a large sauce pan.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer over low heat for 2 hours.
Drain, reserving the liquid for other uses.

Stir Fry Chicken Feet

Heat the fat in a skillet over medium heat.
Add the chicken feet and sauce ingredients.
Stir fry until chicken feet are well coated with sauce, and sauce has thickened to desired consistency, about 10 minutes.

How to Eat Chicken Feet

Whether you use your hands or chopsticks, pick up the chicken paw and bite it between the bones at the tip of the foot. Suck the skin and flesh off the bone and spit the bones out. There will be small bones so be careful.
Continue, using the same process until you're up at the pads of the feet. Do the same thing - suck the bones to get all the skin and flesh off and spit out the bones.

Notes

Be sure to cut off the claws and rinse the feet well before starting.

Don't skip the brining as it helps gives the chicken feet flavor as well as tenderizing them.

Let the brine cool to room temperature before adding the chicken feet - if it's too warm it will start to cook them.

You can substitute broad bean paste for the chili bean sauce (you may have bought broad bean paste for recipes like this Mapo Tofu and have some left over).

If the sauce is too thin when stir frying, pour in a little cornstarch slurry until the desired thickness is reached. To make a cornstarch slurry, mix 1 tablespoon of water with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.

Substitute dry sherry for the Shaoxing wine.

Substitute oyster sauce for the sugar in the sauce if you want less sweet and more umami flavor (I prefer the sugar, but many other recipes call for oyster sauce so the option is out there).

Nutrition