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The other day my father announced that he missed chicken feet. (What?!)
His mother, my grandmother who was born in 1899 and lived to the age of 97, used chicken feet when she made her stock and my dad could always tell when a soup had been made with stock from chicken feet.
Chicken feet have their own unique and wonderful flavor, and the added gelatin from the feet give whatever dish is made with the stock a luxurious feeling when eating it.
The “Eww” factor of chicken feet I think comes from the fact that chicken feet look a lot like our hands.
Silly eh? Especially when we consider that making stock from chicken feet has been a human activity for thousands of years.
Most of our grandmothers or great grandmothers used feet in their stock as a matter of fact. They would laugh at us today to see us cringe. Stock made from chicken feet is fabulous, and incredibly good for you with all that gelatin.
After a lot of digging, I found a few old recipes. All recipes call for boiling the feet first, and then draining the boiling water. I think the point of this step is to get most of the extra protein and impurities to leave the feet and come to the surface.
Another step that all the old recipes take is to cut off the claw tips. I’m not sure why, but I’m guessing that by cutting off the tips of the toes, it’s easier for the marrow and therefore the gelatin in the bones to come out.
Expect to get a lot of stock out of the chicken feet. A pound of feet will yield about a quart of stock, pretty much a bargain at $1 a pound for feet. Where to find chicken feet? Probably the best place to look is in Chinese or Asian markets.
How to Make Stock from Chicken Feet
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of chicken feet
- 2 large carrots, cut in half
- 1 onion, cut into wedges
- 2 celery ribs, cut in half
- 1 bunch of fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 10 peppercorns
Method
1 Boil chicken feet initially for 5 minutes at a hard boil: Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Put the chicken feet into a large stock pot and cover with boiling water. Boil for 5 minutes.
2 Drain, rinse, and cut off and discard the tips of the claws: Drain the chicken feet completely. Rinse with cold water so that the feet are cool enough to handle.
Using a sharp knife, chop off the tips of the claws and discard. They should cut easily if you cut them through the joint. If any rough patches of claw pad remain, cut them away with a paring knife.
3 Place chicken feet in a clean large stockpot. Fill with cold water to cover the feet by an inch. Add carrots, onions, celery, thyme, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Bring to a simmer, immediately reduce the temperature to low. Partially cover, leave about a half inch crack or so, and keep the stock cooking at a bare simmer, for 4 hours. Occasionally skim any foam that may come to the surface.
4 Uncover, increase the heat slightly to maintain a low simmer with the pot now uncovered. Continue to cook for an hour or two. At this point you are reducing the stock so that it is easier to store.
5 Strain the stock through several layers of cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer (ideally both) into a pot.
6 Pour into quart-sized jars. Let cool for an hour or so before storing in the refrigerator.
When your stock has cooled, it should firm up nicely into a gel.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
How to Make Stock from Chicken Feet
OMG Fantastic!! I did add a little rosemary. But hubby who hates chicken loved it.. PS. I used scissors to clip the toes. Thanks so much love love love this!!
xxxxxyyyyy
I’m so glad you liked it Jackie!
Once you make the stock and it gets gel-like do you add water when you use as base for soup?
Hi, Kristen! Nope, just warm it up again in the microwave or on the stovetop, and the broth will turn into liquid again. Enjoy!
After you cook the feet or paws of the chicken for five minutes can they then be frozen?
Hi, Gaby! I assume you want to boil them but then actually make the stock later, correct? If so, I think that you should be able to freeze the boiled feet alright. Let them cool completely and make sure they are dry, then pack them up with as little air as possible. They should be ok for at least a month before developing freezer burn.
can pressure cooker be used for this recipe ? thx
Hi Jerry, I haven’t tried using a pressure cooker with this recipe, but I have with other chicken stock recipes, which have worked fine. So I don’t see why this wouldn’t work in a pressure cooker. Make sure that you don’t go above the max line in your pressure cooker. Cook at high pressure for 45 minutes. Do a natural release for 30 minutes. Strain and cool the stock.
Hey Jerry, I tried this recipe in my 8qt Instant Pot and it turned out great!
Can I add the chicken feet to the chicken carcass when making the stock or must they be cooked separately?
Hi Judi, if you are making chicken stock with a chicken carcass, you can easily add a few chicken feet to the carcass. I often do that.