Chicken feet - gnarly, repulsive and disturbing - make for the very best stock. Devoid of little else but tendons, bone and cartilage (sound appetizing yet?), chicken feet produce a fine golden broth that's rich in all those obscure nutrients that make a good stock so nourishing: glucosamine chondroitin, collagen and trace minerals. Moreover, a chicken stock is an excellent source of calcium without . Understandably, a stock made from chicken feet gels beautifully just as a good stock should.
Saturday morning, I pulled out a bag of chicken feet and as I peeled the yellow membrane from the feet and hacked away the talons, I couldn't help but reflect upon my relationship with food. Dear God, I thought, I was a vegan once! I used to gag at opening a package of lunch meat, and now I can peel and hack my way through a bag of chicken feet with nary an ill feeling That is until my 4-year old tapped me on a shoulder with a disembodied claw. Eeeew! Then there was that time when I accidentally left a bag full of chicken feet fresh from the farmers market in the fridge at the office.
Chicken feet can be difficult to find - that is, until you know where to look. They don't come packaged on little Styrofoam trays, wrapped in plastic. Ethnic markets - those last bastions of traditional foods - often carry chicken feet, heads and other miscellaneous parts that are forgotten in conventional cooking. Farmers markets can be another source. Most importantly, your local farm offering pastured poultry may also have a stash from the latest harvest. If purchasing your chicken feet at a market, they will usually run you $1 - $2 per pound; however, if you purchase your whole chickens farmer-direct they will often throw the chicken feet in the bag at your request. These chicken feet came from a local, family-run farm that also specializes in grass-fed lamb.
Preparing Chicken Feet for the Stock Pot
In many cases, the chicken feet will arrive already prepared, more or less; however, if you receive them directly from your local farm you may need to dress the chicken feet yourself. This is easy. First, you'll rub them with salt and scald them briefly in boiling water followed by an icy bath. This practice enables you to more easily peel the yellow membrane on the foot. After peeling the yellow membrane from the feet, chop the talons off at the first knuckle. Some cooks prefer to leave the talon on the foot. In the above picture, you'll see chicken feet in the three stages of preparation: 1. fresh, 2. peeled and 3. declawed.When blanching the chicken feet, take great care not to blanch the feet too long or you will overcook the feet, fusing the yellow membrane to the foot and activating the gelling process. Moreover, overcooking will also cause the tendons in the feet to contract, making peeling virtually impossible. Be brief.
Once the feet are fully prepared by cleaning, blanching, peeling and talon removal, they're ready for the stock pot. A stock prepared from chicken feet, like any stock, is widely variable and can be seasoned based on your personal preference. Preferring a mild-tasting broth in most recipes, I usually season my broth with vegetable scraps including celery leaves, onion and carrot peelings; however, from time to time, I like to change the flavor of the stock a touch and heat it up with chilies, ginger and other spices. The stock recipe detailed below is very well-suited to Asian-inspired dishes and perfect for cold and flu season when a nourishing, mineral-rich broth infused with chilies and spice can help clear the sinuses.
Trina Morgan says
Oh, wow! Wonderful explanation and instructions. I am sharing this page in FB in response to some hilarious comments on a photo I posted--of chicken feet in the package of giblets from a whole chicken I bought at the supermarket in Torreon, Coahuila, MX. I just cannot stop laughing at my friends' responses to the photo. AND, my stock smells delicious! It's going to keep me company all night.
Carol McNee says
When I make my chicken bone broth I put it in the crock pot and let it simmer for 3 days. The bones get mushy. Can I just add the feet and cook that long or do I need to cook them separately for 12 hours? Also I still have not found a place to buy them. I will try some of the suggestions I read here. Thank you!
Ronja says
My Butcher reccomended browning them on a pan for 15 or 20 minutes before I thorw them in a stock pot. I think the membrane is already off mine and I'm excited to make this! (I've also got a raw back, a carcass from chicken dinner, and some necks!)
Holly says
I just processed my first batch of chicken feet - thank you for the instructions!
Robert says
I have a book titled "Beard On Bread', written by an expert bread-maker. In his instroduction, he tells about a sweet Jewish neighbor who made the most delicious chicken soup he has ever tasted. He never could figure out why her soup was so much better than any other, until one day he happened to visit her house while she was preparing chicken soup, and observed her throwing a couple into her pot. Ever since reading that, I have tried in vain to find a place which carries chicken feet. I have driven as much as fifty miles from home because I heard of a place which "might" carry them, only to come home empty-handed and extremely disappointed. Is there anybody out there who can help me? I live in Greensboro, NC.
Tracy says
Thank you. This is exactly the level of instruction I need to make my first batch of stock using chicken feet.
Mimi says
An excellent tutorial. Thank you! I had no idea I had to skin those feet. I've used feet in my stock for quite a while now and it still never gels.
Jeanmarie says
Great photos! The spice mix looks interesting. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to spice my stock; I just love having lots of plain stock to work with.
Funny how we have very different reactions to chicken feet. I find them to be very sweet looking, and I feel a little sad, though grateful, when I use them.
I have bought chicken feet from Berkeley Bowl, in Berkeley, CA, and a butcher shop in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Here in Mendocino County I was able to buy some whole chickens from the farmers market (now closed for the winter) that had their feet intact. I just cut them off and popped them into the freezer along with other bones I was saving, and they got used the day after Thanksgiving along with the turkey carcass. Not that much gel, but a rich stock nonetheless.
Never have I every done any preparation of the feet whatsoever. I didn't know about the yellow membrane; maybe it was already removed for me? And I certainly didn't declaw them. Everything gets strained out. You're working too hard!
It's true there is nothing like the feet to gel things up. I wish I could get a steady supply where I am now. I'll try a Mexican market, but the problem there is no way to know (given my level of Spanish) how the chickens are treated.
Thanks for another lovely, informative post.
Julie says
Thanks for the post--it was educational and entertaining! When I saw the first photo I realized what you meant when you mentioned that "chicken feet can be a little disturbing". Yes, they are. But once I got over that I appreciated the tutorial on how to prepare them and make a rich gelatinous stock. I hope I can find some in the area. Nope, I ain't gonna find these at the local Stop and Shop on a styrofoam tray wrapped in plastic. He He