Melt-in-your-mouth, collagen-rich chicken feet simmered in a dark, glossy Filipino adobo sauce balanced between sharp acidity, rounded sweetness and confit garlic.
Ingredients
- 1000 g fresh whole chicken feet
- 80 ml white cane vinegar
- 80 ml naturally brewed soy sauce
- 400 ml filtered water
- 8 cloves white garlic
- 1 piece yellow onion
- 2 tbsp high-oleic sunflower oil
- 1 tbsp unrefined raw cane sugar
- 4 leaves dried bay leaf
- 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
- 2 pieces fresh bird's eye chili
Method
- Trim and prep the chicken feet: snip off each claw cleanly using sturdy kitchen shears, rub the skin with a handful of coarse salt to remove any surface impurities, then rinse thoroughly under cold water.
- Blanch the chicken feet in a pot of boiling water for five minutes to firm the skin and remove excess scum. Drain them immediately and rinse under cold running water to stop the cooking process.
- Peel the garlic cloves and crush them with the flat of a knife blade without mincing them. Finely slice the yellow onion.
- Heat the high-oleic sunflower oil in a saute pan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the crushed garlic and sliced onion, then sweat gently for four to five minutes until the onion turns translucent and the garlic releases a toasted aroma without burning.
- Place the blanched chicken feet in the pot and saute for two to three minutes, turning them gently to coat them thoroughly in the garlic oil.
- Pour in the naturally brewed soy sauce, filtered water, raw cane sugar, coarsely crushed black peppercorns and dried bay leaves. Bring the liquid to a rolling boil.
- As soon as the mixture reaches a rolling boil, cover the pot, lower the heat to the minimum setting and simmer gently over very low heat for forty minutes, until the cartilage softens and the skin becomes tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.
- Pour the cane vinegar over everything in the pot. The crucial rule of adobo: do not stir under any circumstances. Let it simmer uncovered for five minutes to allow the harsh, acidic vapors to evaporate freely.
- Stir in the halved bird's eye chilies if you like heat, then gently mix to coat the pieces.
- Increase the heat to medium high and let the cooking liquid reduce for eight to ten minutes, stirring regularly. The sauce should foam, thicken from the dissolved collagen and coat the chicken feet in a thick, glossy mahogany glaze.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 393.4 kcal
- Protein
- 61.14 g
- Carbohydrate
- 7.48 g
- Fat
- 11.8 g
- Fibre
- 1.71 g
- Calcium
- 17.32 mg
- Iron
- 0.79 mg
- Magnesium
- 22.69 mg
