Easy Chicken Feet Recipe (Chinese Dim Sum Style)
on Mar 23, 2023, Updated Nov 08, 2023
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These tender and savory chicken feet are life-changing! The secret to truly soft and flavorful chicken feet is to braise them in a rich sauce with a secret ingredient – a can of BEER! This easy recipe is way healthier (and better) than your favorite Chinese dim sum restaurant. You can eat them as an appetizer or snack. Bonus: No messy deep-frying is required!
Tender braised chicken feet in 3 easy steps!
I can never resist chicken feet at a dim sum restaurant, but my waistline cannot handle it, as the traditional dish is deep-fried before braising.
After many attempts, I finally nailed it, so this is how I make my easy and healthy braised chicken feet: Clean, Blanch, and Braise. That’s it 😄
No mess, no oil wastage, no unhealthy added fat!
The secret for braising chicken feet without deep-frying
Add a CAN OF BEER to your sauce, and it will transform your chicken feet!
Reasons: The alcohol in the beer helps tenderize the chicken by breaking down the connective tissues during the braising process.
It also adds depth and richness as well as a hint of sweet flavor to the sauce, making your chicken feet extra flavorful!
Other ingredients
- Raw Chicken Feet: You can buy chicken feet at most local Asian grocery stores, especially Chinese grocery stores. Alternatively, order them from a butcher shop.
- Dark Soy Sauce: It adds a nice saltiness and umami flavor. I recommend using dark soy sauce for the beautiful deeper color. Substitute: you can use light soy sauce if you prefer. It will taste the same, but your chicken feet won’t have that nice dark color.
- Oyster Sauce: It’s sweet and salty, adding richer flavor.
- Vegetable Oil: It has a high smoke point so don’t substitute with extra virgin olive oil.
- Garlic: Use fresh garlic instead of garlic powder.
- Ginger: It adds great flavor to the dish. Remove the skin and cut it into thin pieces.
- Sugar: It helps to sweeten the sauce. You can use regular sugar or brown sugar.
How to make it
Here are 3 easy steps to make it:
1️⃣ Clean chicken feet
Rinse them under cold running water. You may need to scrub them with a brush if there is any debris. Chop the nails off the claws using a sharp knife.
2️⃣ Blanch
- Add chicken feet to a skillet or wok, then add COLD water to cover the chicken feet. Blanching helps to remove the white stuff (impurities) and odors from the chicken feet.
- Bring to a boil, cook for 10 minutes, then drain the water.
3️⃣ Braise
- Place the skillet over medium-high heat, and add vegetable oil. Once hot, add garlic and ginger. Stir fry for 30 seconds. (Tip: Avoid the garlic from burning. The burned garlic can make your sauce taste bitter!)
- Add chicken feet, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar.
- Pour in beer, and bring to a boil.
- Cover with a lid and simmer for 25-30 minutes.
- Remove the lid, and turn the heat to high. Stir fry until the sauce has thickened.
Tip: Check the chicken feet from time to time and make sure there’s enough liquid during braising. Add water if needed.
How to serve chicken feet
You can serve it as a dim sum at brunch or lunch. For me, I love eating them on rice or noodles, together with some greens on the side for dinner.
More great Dim Sum Recipes
- Shumai (Chinese steamed dumplings)
- Pan Fried Peking Dumplings
- Pork Feet
Easy Chicken Feet Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken feet*
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 inch ginger, sliced
- 4 tablespoons dark soy sauce**, (I highly recommend using dark soy sauce so that the chicken feet will have a very nice dark brown color)
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 can beer***, (12oz)
- optional green onions for serving
Instructions
- Rinse the chicken feet under cold running water thoroughly. Remove any dirty part on the chicken feet. Chop the nails off the claws using a sharp knife. (Try to cut them through the joint for easy cutting.)
- Add COLD water and chicken feet to a skillet with lid or wok. (Make sure the chicken feet are submerged.)
- Bring to boil and cook for 10 minutes, and drain the water.
- Place the skillet over medium-high heat, and add vegetable oil.
- Once hot, add garlic and ginger. Stir fry for 30 seconds. Tip: Make sure you don't burn the garlic. Otherwise, it can make your sauce taste bitter!
- Add chicken feet, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar. Mix with a wooden spoon.
- Add beer and bring to boil.
- Cover with a lid, lower the heat, and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until tender. (Check the chicken feet from time to time and make sure there's enough liquid during braising. Add water if needed.)
- Remove the lid, and turn the heat to high. Stir fry until the sauce has thickened. (If you’d like to thicken your sauce faster, you can add the mixture of cornstarch and water. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water).
Notes
- *Make sure to cut the nails and clean the chicken feet thoroughly before cooking.
- ** Dark soy sauce adds a nice caramelized color to the chicken, making it more appetizing. If you don’t have dark soy sauce, you can substitute regular light soy sauce. The taste will be the same, but won’t look like the ones I made in the photos.
- *** I recommend using lighter beers like lagers or pilsners for the best taste. You can also substitute water in a pinch, but your chicken won’t be as tender and flavorful.
- It’s important to add chicken feet to the COLD water, bring them to boil and cook for 10 minutes before braising. Don’t skip this step as this will help to remove the extra debris and odors from the chicken.
- If you like the spicy flavor, you can add crushed dried hot chili to the sauce.
- You can store leftover chicken feet for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They can also be frozen for up to 2 months. To reheat, steam for 4 to 5 minutes or until hot.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate only and will vary based on ingredient brands and cooking methods used.
Could this recipe be used with deboned chicken feet?
Yes, you can
So you eat the entire foot, bones and all? I run a chicken farm and I just throw the feet away. Curious as to how they become edible.
First time ever trying this recipe. Sauce was absolutely fantastic. Dumb question though. I have chicken feet from home farmed meat chickens so I didn’t have to buy them. I thought the yellow “skin” had to be peeled of so it’s not eaten. So I peeled. The feet were left with tendons, etc exposed. Not at all like your photos that seem to have the skin left on. Skin on or off?
For the traditional Chinese chicken feet recipe, you don’t need to peel off the skin.
Do you mean the scales? you can remove them by soaking in a hot water for few minutes, after that you will see the white skin.
I haven’t tried this yet but, will do so soon. I have my chicken feet and all the ingredients ready to go. What goes well with this dish and what else would you suggest is served?
Absolutely delicious! I love chicken feet!!
Very clear, concise, and easy-to-follow recipe.
I made this tonight and it is so delicious. I added twice the amount of ginger ( I love ginger) and did not have oyster sauce but it was still tasty as heck. Will make it again and add oyster sauce to see how it should truly taste. Thanks for thorough instructions!
To get them puffy you have to simmer them much longer until they swell. I usually simmer them in a broth for about an hour, then braise them.
How long would I make these in an instant pot/pressure cooker? Thank you!
Excellent and flavorful apputizer