LEO/LHB: Ready for the chicken feet challenge?

[Robin Garr]

LEO's Eats with Louisville HotBytes.com

So my wife Mary and I settled right in at Jade Palace on a brisk Sunday afternoon. Our foodie friend Stephen Dennison was to join us, but those speedy dim sum carts wouldn't wait.

Peeking and pointing, we filled our table with the Chinese snacks we like best - har gao and siu mai dumplings; char siu bao stuffed steamed bread; lou mai gai chicken and rice in lotus leaves; and lots more.

Then the friendly Chinese guy with the big smile threw out a challenge: "Chicken feet?"

I paled. I love authentic fare and I'm adventurous, as is my bride. Still ... chicken feet? I hadn't gone there yet, and wasn't sure I wanted to do so this day. "Maybe later," I said. He winked. "Maybe next generation," he chortled, moving on.

That did it. My competitive spirit afire, I jumped up, ready to chase the cart, when Stephen came in. I told him the story and he was right on it. Chicken feet it would be, and plenty of them. We got them, we ate them, we liked them. Pretty much. And the Chinese guy seemed impressed.

I'll now invite Stephen, who's on the bar staff at the soon-to-open Z's Fusion, to take over the tale:

A chicken feet primer

Modern chefs are bringing a variety of meats back to the formal dinner table, returning to the ancient virtues of hoof-to-snout cookery. This historic culinary approach tames the naughty bits: the thymus, kidneys, stomach ... even testicles.

In prehistoric times, necessity forced the use of every part of the animal. One never knew when the next meal would come along. Also, to waste any part could insult the animal's sacrifice and might incur the wrath of an angry animal spirit.

Read the complete report in LEO and on LouisvilleHotBytes.com.

Jade Palace
1109 Herr Lane
425-9878
http://www.jadepalacelouisville.com

That's pretty cool. Chicken feet are a big deal down in the LowCounty of South Carolina but not fixed that way. All of the IGA's down there sell'em.
Most of the people down there that eat chicken feet stew'em. Their not my thing but some folks down there like'em a bunch.

Drooling on my keyboard.

There's a Chinese buffet off Hurstbourne in the center that has Shalimar (and is sort of across from the Swope Auto World) . . . I think it's probably the most authentic of its ilk . . . anyways, they usually (not always, but maybe 70% of the time) have chicken feet (or sometimes duck feet) on the buffet. . . they are golden brown, sticky, and taste wonderful!

The buffet has a wide range of items, from unusually spiced crawfish through the chicken feet to pizza, but the "authentic" items are decent.

I have about 10 pkgs. of chicken feet in my freezer, but, sorry, they're for my dogs! They are special treats for our Greyhounds as they love 'em, they're good for cleaning their teeth and they have lots of glucosamine in them. (Even the 14-year-old "toothless wonder" enjoys them.)



I did make a pot of stock from a package of chicken feet but used it to make an add-on for the dogs' kibble.

Lois

Sorry, can't do it. I ate sea cucumber ( a bit like stewed fat) but cannot do duck or chicken feet. I think it's because of a movie I saw as a kid called Mondo Cane (A Dog's Life). It showed - among other things- how duck feet were prepared. It involved making a live duck stand on a hot griddle until his feet were puffed. Then his feet were were cut off and prepped for consumption. It also show how geese were force fed for some culinary dishes. I'm willing to float between vegetarianism and pork ribs but I can't see enjoying a dish that includes torturing an animal before it's eaten. I do think that chicken feet are cut off AFTER the bird is dead making it no different a meal than any other chicken dish. I just can't do it.

Come on Carla, wouldn't you love to see a chicken feet throw down.

How 'bout a chicken down feet throw instead?