How to Debone Chicken Feet Easily
Chicken feet is an exotic food that is full of collagen for the skin and cartilage, calcium and protein for the joints. While Chinese dishes often have them braised with bones, Thai cuisine often debone the chicken feet before including them in dishes.
This contributes to the maximum enjoyment of the dish; because why remove the bones while eating when you can continue stuffing your face with the next bite? Of course, this is only possible if you have a lot of time beforehand, as removing the bones is a tedious process or access to frozen boneless chicken feet.
That’s right. In Thailand, one can find frozen, deboned chicken feet easily; and they are also sold in speciality Thai stores in Malaysia. So while I often buy my supply of boneless chicken feet, today I’m sharing how to debone them, if access is limited.
Ingredients
The ingredients list for this process is very short:
Raw Chicken Feet – with all the nails removed and thoroughly cleaned. This means there is no dirt or mud between the toes or in the folds of the skin. If there are any calluses, corns or black spots in general, carefully remove them with a sharp knife. The chicken feet should all look like the image above.
Salt – is to lightly season the chicken feet, and reduce the amount of natural minerals lost as the chicken feet are boiled in the water.
Baking powder – which can also be substituted with bicarbonate of soda. Add 1 tbsp for every litre of water used. It helps to tenderize the chicken feet’s skin as it is submerged in water overnight.
And lastly, water – to boil the chicken feet and soak them overnight. The amount that I used is catered to my pots and basins; do adjust the amount based on your utensils. The important part is the chicken feet should be fully submerged during the boiling stage (for even cooking) and soaking stage (for an even tenderizing process).
Steps
Here are the brief steps to debone chicken feet:
- Boil cleaned chicken feet in water and salt.
- Shock them in cold water.
- Submerge in water and baking powder overnight.
- Drain all the water and place chicken feet in a large tray.
- Make a straight incision on the top of the chicken feet from the tip of the leg to the tip of the middle toe.
- Make smaller incisions on the other toes.
- With your thumb and index finger, push the skin off all around the bone.
- Repeat steps 7 with the toes.
- Break 3 small toe bones and discard. Repeat with the rest of the toes.
- Break the main bone and discard. Repeat with the smaller centre bones of the foot.
- Place some ice on the chicken feet.
- Once done, pack them into smaller air-tight bags to portion them.
Tips
- Boiling the chicken feet achieves 2 things; first, it removes any impurities in the form of scum and cooks the chicken feet. This makes it easier to remove the bones later.
- After it is boiled, shocking the chicken feet with cold water removes the residual heat and stops the cooking process. This reduces the moisture from seeping out, which helps lock in the chicken flavour.
- Soaking the chicken overnight in baking soda water tenderizes the chicken feet further, making them soft enough to be separated from the bone.
- After removing all the bones, they can be discarded or kept aside to make chicken stock.
- Dividing the chicken feet into different portions makes it easier to cook.
- Prepared this way, these chicken feet are excellent for Thai Chicken Feet Salad.
- Make sure to watch the full video to see how I made it exactly!
Storage Instructions
It is highly recommended to use the deboned chicken feet immediately in dishes.
Leftovers can be divided into air-tight packs or containers and kept in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Personally, I do not recommend freezing them as the ice crystals formed affects the chewy, gelatinous texture unique to boiled chicken feet. Instead, keep the raw chicken feet frozen until ready to use as the texture will not be as affected.
Note: commercially frozen deboned chicken feet tend to be treated with preservatives to retain the chewy texture. This is why once frozen, the homemade deboned chicken feet will not retain their chewy texture.
Recipes You Might Like
- Braised Chicken Feet with Shiitake Mushroom
- Easy & Quick Prawn Stock from Prawn Shells
- Braised Chicken Wings in Soy Sauce
How to Debone Chicken Feet
Equipment
- Wok
- Strainer
- Basins
- Chopping Board
- Pairing Knife
- Kitchen Shears
- Colander
Ingredients
- 1 kg chicken feet, cleaned, with nails removed and dirt/ mud washed off
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp baking powder, or bicarbonate soda
- 3.5 litres water
Instructions
- In a wok over medium heat, add all the chicken feet, and 1.5 litres of water, or enough that the chicken feet are fully submerged.
- Add all the salt. Give it a quick stir to spread it evenly. Cover the wok and wait for 12 minutes, or until it comes to a rolling boil.
- Once boiling, stir the chicken feet to rotate them evenly. Cover the wok with the lid slightly ajar and let it boil for another 8 minutes. Meanwhile, fill a large basin with cold water.
- Switch off the heat. Place all the feet on a strainer and gently shake to remove the excess water.
- Add all the chicken feet into the basin of cold water. Then, remove the chicken feet with a colander and set aside to drain while the baking soda water is prepared.
- In a large basin, stir together 2L of water and all the baking soda until fully dissolved.
- Add all the chicken feet into the basin. Cover with a plastic sheet and place a heavy item on top to submerge all the chicken feet fully. Set aside for a minimum of 8 hours to overnight.
- Then, drain all the water and place the chicken feet on a large tray. To keep them fresh and chilled, place some ice over the feet while the bones are removed.
Deboning the Chicken Feet
- Wash and dry the hands thoroughly.
- Run the tip of a pointed knife (or a pairing knife) through the leg of the feet on the top.
- With the thumb and index finger, push the skin off the main bone from the cut, all the way to the other side. Run the thumb all the way down to the cut to separate the skin off the bone.
- Make another cut along each toe of the chicken feet. Once again, gently push the skin off the toe bones from the cut. This should separate each toe bone from the skin.
- Break the bones and place them onto one side.
- Once all the toe bones have been removed, gently pull out the main bone from the skin, and place it onto one side as well.
- Remove any bones left in the "palm" of the chicken feet if present.
- Place the deboned chicken feet into a bowl, and place some ice on it. Repeat the deboning process for each foot until complete.
- Use immediately, or divide the deboned chicken feet into different portions, and place into ziplock bags.
Video
Notes
- Pre-boiling the chicken feet achieves 2 things; first, it removes any impurities in the form of scum and expands the skin. This makes it easier to remove later.
- With the lid slightly ajar, the water will not overboil and flow out of the pan.
- After it is boiled, shocking the chicken feet with cold water removes the residual heat and stops the cooking process. This reduces the moisture from seeping out, which helps lock in the chicken flavour.
- Soaking the chicken overnight in baking soda water tenderizes the chicken feet further, making them soft enough to be separated from the bone.
- After removing all the bones, they can be discarded or kept aside to make chicken stock.
- Dividing the chicken feet into different portions makes it easier to cook.
- Prepared this way, these chicken feet are excellent for Thai Chicken Feet Salad.