Braised duck feet (or maybe chicken) anybody know this...?

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jpinmaryland

Sous Chef
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Sep 16, 2004
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This is a morphed over from the original thread on chicken wings. I had forgotten what we ate. They must have been duck feet. They had been cooked so long there was nothing to eat of them at first. We tried to scrape off the skin with our teeth but there was nothing there as the skin was cooked right into the cartilage or whatever. Then my wife and I hit on the idea of just crunching into them, and they were wonderful. The feet just crumble into bits and the flavor oozes out. Amazing...

Does anyone know anything They must have been slow cooked a long time to get this way..
 
The Frugal Gourmet was cooking poultry feet on some of his last shows. He published several cookbooks. You might start with him.
 
Time was when one would see them sold in grocery stores here...
haven't seen them in a long time however....
I think they were primarily used as a seasoning for greens, and in chicken & dumplings etc.
I never tried them...but have been told they are excellent!
 
Don't know about duck, but I see chicken feet in the Chinese market and the supermarket that sells pig feet, oxtail, and bulk dried chilies. Haven't bought them yet; look at them every time I shop there. I'll follow this thread carefully for advice from the rest of you.
 
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Every poultry stall in my local indoor market used to sell chicken feet. I remember some American tourists wandering through wincing at all the things like skinned lamb's heads (not pretty I must admit) and then getting to a poultry stall piled high with feet and saying "Gee, these guys living here must be really poor. Look at what they eat". Amused me at the time but you hardly ever see chicken feet nowadays. A sign, I guess, that people's cooking habits are changing. The famous "Mediterranean diet" isn't followed so closely as it used to be, that's for sure.
 
My parents told me that when they were growing up, all the butchers carried all sorts of "parts" you rarely see today outside of specialty ethnic grocers.

They said that my grandparents (& other grand-relatives) would never even DREAM of making a chicken soup or stew without adding chicken feet to the stock.
 
And no fooling, it might be. The feet are full of collagen that makes the soups and stews very rich and thick.
 
My Chinese wife loves when i cook her chicken feet. We do not find them often but buy some when we do. I just simmer in a little water ,soy sauce and garlic. Salt and pepper as well. I will not eat them but she and her daughter go to town on them.
 
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