Battle of the chicken foot.

 OFFAL

Offal was supposed to be September’s theme. However, due to the birth of my first niece, little Victoria, blog posts had to take a back seat. I  was very busy with, feedings, baths, diaper changes and cooking dinner for my first-time mom sister. Not only that, I was in Canada for almost three weeks. I didn’t know the first place to turn to find goat tongue, cow lover or chicken foot. So here we are in October, still doing offal. This time chicken foot.

Chicken foot is the go-to ingredient for soup in Jamaica. Chicken foot soup (or chicken toes soup as my cousin called it as a toddler) is basically the Jamaican chicken noodle soup. Its also curried heavily. For the most part, people really don’t do brown stew chicken foot as much as they do curry. I knew I wanted to do a Chinese style dim sum chicken foot because those are just amazing, but I also knew I wanted something Jamaican, just wasn't sure what. My grandaunt saw the feet in the kitchen and told me how much my late grandmother adored brown stew chicken foot. And since I already did the curry cow foot in the last post, I figured I would do this one for her.

This post is another two for one special. You’re getting a Jamaican style brown stew chicken foot recipe in addition to the Chinese sweet and spicy dim sum style recipe. Hope you enjoy them both as much as we did. The ingredients are very similar to my Jamaican brown stew chicken recipe, however, I went a bit heavy on the thyme and smoked paprika and I added red peppers for even more flavor.

Brown Stew chicken foot

Ingredients (printable recipe)

To season

3-4 lb chicken foot

½ teaspoon Black pepper

2 teaspoon ground Allspice

1 tablespoon Onion powder

1 tablespoon thyme

1 tablespoon smoked Paprika

2 teaspoon salt

For the stew

3 tablespoon oil

1 sliced red pepper

1 sliced green pepper

1 sliced onion

½ scotch bonnet pepper

1 crushed garlic clove

¼ cup scallion

2 sprig thyme

2 ½ cups water (or just enough to almost cover the feet)

2 teaspoon honey

Salt to taste

Instructions

• Wash the chicken feet thoroughly removing any discolored parts and discarding the toenails
• Pat dry and season with black pepper, allspice, onion powder, thyme, smoked paprika, and salt
• Let this marinate overnight in the refrigerator
• In a pot heat the oil on a medium heat brown the chicken feet until they are no longer white, they will take on a slight golden-brown color and the skin will be noticeably different from the skin that is not browned,
• Repeat until all are browned, then add them all to the pot, along with the garlic, hot pepper, scallion, thyme, half the red pepper, half the green pepper, and half the onion.
• Mix together in the pot and allow the veggies to start to soften for about 5 to 8 minutes
• Add the water and cover on the medium-low heat. Allow the chicken feet to become completely fork tender
• This takes about 1 to 1.5 hours
• Periodically check in the chicken feet to stir making sure the liquid does not evaporate too fast and the chicken is not sticking to the bottom of the pot
• If it is, add more water in ½ cup increments
• When the chicken is almost finished, add the honey, the rest of the green and red peppers and salt if necessary.
• Chicken feet lends to a sticky gelatinous gravy almost like cow feet. It should be very rich and silky, the skin and what little meat would be falling off the bones.
• Serve with white rice or rice and peas

Sweet and spicy dim sum chicken feet

Ingredients (printable recipe)

3-4 lb chicken foot

To season

1 teaspoon Red pepper flakes

3 teaspoon Soy sauce

1 tablespoon Sesame oil

1 teaspoon Crushed ginger

1 teaspoon Crushed garlic

To fry and soak

1-2 cups oil for frying

A bowl filled with ice cold water

To cook

3 tablespoon Sesame oil

1 tablespoon shredded Ginger

2 teaspoon shredded Garlic

¼ cup finely chopped Onion

3 tablespoon Oyster sauce

3 tablespoon Soy sauce

¼ cup Honey

1 teaspoon Vinegar

1 cup water (may need more)

4 finely chopped Chili peppers

¼ cup Scallion (optional)

2 tablespoon Toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Instructions

• Wash the chicken feet thoroughly removing any discolored parts and discarding the toenails
• Pat dry and season with red pepper flakes, sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic
• Leave to marinate overnight
• Heat the oil in a deep pot or wok
• Take a paper towel and dry off all the seasoning from the skin of the chicken feet, they will burn once they hit the hot oil, and the drier the skin, the less popping
• Make sure to have an oil splatter cover ready because the chicken feet pop up like CRAZY!
• Fry the chicken feet in small batches 4 to 5 at a time in the hot oil they will become golden brown within 2 minutes
• Once fried remove from the oil and place directly into the ice cold water bath
• Repeat until all the chicken feet are fried to a dark golden brown
• Soak in the cold water for at least 3 to 4 hours, up to overnight. I soaked mine for 4 hours
• Once soaked, in a saute pan or wok heat the sesame oil and saute the ginger garlic and onions do not allow them to burn quickly saute just until the onions become fragrant
• Strain and pat dry the chicken feet and add them to the saute
• Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, honey, vinegar, water, and chili peppers
• Stir to combine,
• Place the heat on low, cover and allow the chicken feet to cook in the sauce for an hour
• During that time, if your heat is too high the liquid will evaporate, and your sauce will burn
• If this is happening,  keep adding water in ½ cup increments every time it reduces before the chicken feet are cooked, and keep the flames low
• The chicken feet will look plump and be fork tender
• Once cooked allow the sauce to thicken to a glaze that will be sticky and coat the chicken feet.
• Stir in scallion and toasted sesame seeds
• Serve

XOXO Greedygirl