Don't miss out on cold pickled chicken's feet

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China.org.cn

Nov 17, 2023, 09:00 ET

BEIJING, Nov. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from China.org.cn on cold pickled chicken's feet:

Don't miss out on cold pickled chicken's feet

OK, they can be crunchy and weird.

But if you are an expat here to experience China, maybe you shouldn't miss out on cold pickled chicken's feet, David Ferguson suggests.

It is a treasured delicacy beloved in every province of China. However, there are plenty who are new to China who shrink away in disgust.

A plate of cold pickled chicken's feet is the very first thing David Ferguson was given to eat in China. He had never thought of it as a dish.

David Ferguson just sat there and looked at it. To be honest, he thought they might as well have given him a plate with a stone on it.

Why?

Maybe those who have had chickens scratching around in the back garden would understand. The chicken's feet are used to industriously claw through soil and manure to dig up bugs and worms and other tasty morsels in the bird's unceasing quest for food.

But the same people who think chicken feet too dirty to enjoy are also strangers to the Chinese kitchen. Chicken feet are methodically cleansed and clipped before they are prepared, the hard outer skin is carefully stripped, leaving the tenderest layer. The outer nails also come off. And every claw is clipped before cooking. As a result, the claw, almost fatless, is a tender package of skin and tendons, and a natural source of collagen.

David Ferguson also finds an interesting aspect about Chinese food. Things with the least meat on them are the most expensive. Chicken's feet are the most expensive part of the chicken. But back his home in the West, chicken's breast with all meat on it is the most expensive part of the chicken. People just take the chicken's feet and throw them away.

However, David Ferguson can accept the chicken's feet now.

So either cold pickled or hot spicy.

Yes, he quite enjoys them.

The Cultural Sit-Down with Wang Xiaohui
http://cul.china.com.cn/node_1008104.htm
Don't miss out on cold pickled chicken's feet
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=715105763981009
https://twitter.com/chinaorgcn/status/1716711713096212533

SOURCE China.org.cn