There was an omission in HG’s recent post about HG’s late Mom’s virtuoso cooking of every bit of a chicken. HG forgot to mention chicken feet (Mom called them “fissel”, Yiddish word for feet). These were an essential ingredient of “tzimmes”, a sweet, tangy stew of shaved carrot strips, honey, brown sugar, ginger and chicken fat. Mom added the chicken feet to give it a gelatinous quality. Dish was often served at Rosh Hashonah, the Jewish new year, to ensure a sweet year ahead. Curiously, “tzimmes” is a Yiddish idiom for “fuss”. HG abhors chicken feet. Always refused to eat them. They are served with most Chinese dim sum. But, not to HG. Chicken feet are a staple in most Asian cuisines and spicy chicken feet are popular street food. (They are an Asian version of Buffalo chicken wings — served at movie theaters in Taiwan). Thai cooks use a lot of chicken feet. Salads. With noodles. Fried, Grilled, Barbecued. Very popular with Filipinos. They like them stewed with oyster sauce, black beans, soy sauce, garlic, ginger. Sounds good, but HG will pass.
Leave a Reply