I ate chicken feet today. Chicken Feet.Let me back up. Today, I went on a business lunch with a few of my co-workers and some underwriters. We decided to eat Dim Sum, which is like a kooky Chinese drive-by buffet. You sit down, and a bajillion waitresses with carts come out offering already-prepared dishes consisting of anything you can imagine. Its a feeding frenzy. Potstickers, bau, dumplings, congee (look it up) and lotus leaf rice filled the table within minutes. The talk of the table, however, was the oft-mentioned but never actually confirmed menu item: Chicken Feet ("Phoenix Talons").
Of course there is always the jackass that has to place the order to keep things interesting.
For whatever reason (boredom, curiosity, pathalogical need for attention, etc.), I decided to try me some real chicken fingers.
Well, let me just say that the look exactly like they do in the picture above, except breaded and fried. As you would imagine, there is no meat on them so you are essentially eating the breading, sauce, and underlying boiled skin of poultry feets.
I respect other cultures, I really do. All jokes aside, the feet weren't that bad. This being said, I cannot figure out for the life of me WHY THE HELL a part of the chicken with no meat is a delicacy? What next, the browbone of swine?
I should point out, however, that Chicken Feet are also eaten in Jamacian, Peruvian, and South African Cultures. I am pleased to report that in Durban, South Africa, chicken feet, served with the damn head, comprises a dish known as "walkie talkies." Clever.
In closing, I will say that I left that B-Rated dim sum restaurant today a little more worldly, a little less cynical, and a lot more nauseas than I had entered.
Where is a dollar-menu Crispy McChicken when you need one?
