Apparently, China has a thing for chicken paws and puffed chicken feet. No, really. I heard about it on an old Freakonomics podcast. Anyone had them?
The chicken segments are at the beginning and end of the podcast but the middle part is pretty informative, too.
I LOVE chicken feet. We have them when we go to dim sum (basically a Chinese lunch with little plates). You have to be careful of the sauces there though. I also eat beef tendon when we go.
I like to use chicken feet (when I can find them at the store) to make bone broth. They are full of cartilage and have awesome flavor. Usually I have to go the the markets in our Chinatown to get them.
A little. Mostly they are bony. The Chinese restaurants put a lot of sauce on to them…so who knows. The bone broth made with the tastes chickeny…just like if you made it with necks or backs.
Chicken feet dishes are very very common in many old recipes around the world (Europe, Asia, Africa, etc…). This is not a “China” thing.