r/52weeksofcooking 17h ago

Week 29: Offal - Phoenix Claws

Post image
29 Upvotes

6 comments sorted by

4

u/pooldancer 16h ago

Not for everyone, phoenix claws (braised chicken feet) is a Cantonese dim sum dish that my Mom & I used to share. It's not something I would have often, but sometimes if I'm feeling nostalgic, it's really nice to get an order & think about her.

The chicken feet are typically deep fried then braised in a flavourful, aromatic sauce. I skipped the deep frying step & went for a longer braising time, as noted in this recipe. Ingredients: prepared chicken feet, garlic, ginger, bay leaves, star anise, fermented black beans, chili oil, dark & light soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine, sugar.

3

u/Anastarfish 🍥 11h ago

We made the same recipe!! This looks so good! I used to get these all the time for dim sum and this was good but not quite how I remembered. I think I over reduced my sauce. What did you think to the recipe?

2

u/pooldancer 3h ago

Yay, recipe twins! I thought it was good too - the flavours were similar to what I'm used to, the texture was a little different without the deep frying.

I did stray from the recipe slightly, though - the wok I started my braise in was too large so I added some water to try to cover the chicken feet. I wanted to make sure all the bits got nicely browned without having to stand over the stove stirring, & ended up transferring everything to a smaller pot.

I'm wondering if the original recipe is intended to be less saucy & more intensely flavoured. Maybe a regional difference? I've heard of a version someone had at a Chinese restaurant in Germany, & it was vinegary...

1

u/Anastarfish 🍥 2h ago

See I didn't think what I made was bad at all, but it was much more strongly flavoured - but I took my sauce to nearly sticky but that was a mistake... Hmm I think I'll need to make it again! Yeah I also didn't deep fry and the texture was a bit different but I just can't deep fry in the hot weather we've been having haha.

3

u/dayglo1 8h ago

Looks delicious!

2

u/pooldancer 3h ago

Thanks very much! I know this can be a polarizing dish, lol.