# chicken paws questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-paws-questions/693480 "2014-07-18T20:25:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-paws-questions/693480/1 "2014-07-18T20:25:50Z")
Chicken paws are the feet of chickens, as labeled in the stores hereabouts (S. GA). Are they sold in stores near you? If so, what are they good for? I imagine a bunch of them in a pressure cooker with some water could make some good broth, but the ones I saw today were $1.99 a pound, while leg quarters were 59 cents per pound in ten pound bags. $1.99 a pound seems a bit high for bones, scaly skin, tendons, and toenails. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-paws-questions/693480/2 "2014-07-18T20:30:24Z")
They are probably being sold for broth in your location, but a popular _dim sum_ dish is essentially barbecued chicken feet. The chewiness is part of the charm, I’ve been led to understand. Don’t know why they would be higher than the leg quarters though. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-paws-questions/693480/3 "2014-07-18T20:34:03Z")
I’ve never seen them sold as “chicken paws,” but I have seen chicken feet as well as boneless chicken feet at certain ethnic stores. In our family, we would use them for broth. They add richness and body. The boneless chicken feet I saw I think are used in some types of Asian dishes. Looking online, that does seem to be the case, it being used in some Chinese cuisines. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-paws-questions/693480/4 "2014-07-18T20:40:24Z")
They’re available in Asian grocery stores, here. I’ve never seen them called anything but chicken feet. Usually they cost less than other parts of the chicken, but not less than whole chicken. If they’re costing more where you live, I’d guess that they come from a specialty supplier, and that there isn’t much of a market for them. Or, like chicken wings, they’re sought after and the store can run the price up. I remember when wings were a third of the cost of drumsticks, or less. Damn you, Buffalo Wings. I’ve tried the dim sum chicken feet. They had an amazing number of bones in them. Tasted pretty good, but a lot of work. ---
**Author:** ![Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absinthe_Anecdote)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-paws-questions/693480/5 "2014-07-18T20:44:42Z")
The Koreans prepare them with copious amounts of red pepper paste. Pregnant Korean women sometimes crave them, but then there is an old wives tale about eating ugly food during a pregnancy will result in an ugly baby. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-paws-questions/693480/6 "2014-07-20T12:45:32Z")
If you wanted to make a stock with a lot of dissolved collagen, would using chicken feet do the trick? They seem to have plenty of sinew. I know one uses veal or pork feet when making aspics and meat jellies, for just that reason. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-paws-questions/693480/7 "2014-07-20T12:55:11Z")
Would it be stating the obvious to say that chickens don’t have paws? ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-paws-questions/693480/8 "2014-07-20T13:29:57Z")
My dogs like them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-paws-questions/693480/9 "2014-07-20T13:33:26Z")
As others have sad, chicken feet common as dim sum at the places where Chinese immigrants go. Chicken quarters are almost always the cheapest meat around while people pay a premium for ethnic specialties – even if the ethnic specialty was originally poverty food. For example you wouldn’t believe the cost of Oxtail anymore, carribean folk originally made it because it was cheap, now they pay extra because its traditional. Nowadays, oxtail costs more than ground beef, and more than london broil, and more than lots of types of steak. If you can even find it for $5 or $6/lb you’re doing well. ([2006 article noting that at that time, wholesale price was already $3/lb](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/nyregion/thecity/17oxta.html?_r=0)) That’s how it goes with nostalgia foods. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-paws-questions/693480/10 "2014-07-20T22:58:27Z")
Yuck! ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-paws-questions/693480/11 "2014-07-20T23:02:18Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Yuck! Why “yuck!”? What’s any “yuckier” about chicken feet than chicken drumsticks or thighs or other chicken parts? Serious question. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-paws-questions/693480/12 "2014-07-21T00:55:22Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > They are probably being sold for broth in your location, but a popular _dim sum_ dish is essentially barbecued chicken feet. The chewiness is part of the charm, I’ve been led to understand. Don’t know why they would be higher than the leg quarters though. Just to correct this, they are deep fried, then braised (and kept warm in a steamer). > **[Braised chicken feet in black bean sauce](https://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipe/braised-chicken-feet-in-black-bean-sauce/fcw8njui0)** > > This much-guarded recipe is one that many Cantonese chefs and cooks take to their graves. We’ve pieced together this recipe from a variety of sources. The chicken feet are first deep-fried, then plunged into iced water for 2 hours to make them ‘puff... ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-paws-questions/693480/13 "2014-07-21T04:23:33Z")
When I was a kid, back in the 50s, a farmer used to come around once a week with a truck full of live chickens. My mother would go out and pick one (I have no idea how), and the farmer would kill it and pluck the feathers. He gave us everything but the head. The neck, giblets and feet were used to make chicken soup. I liked to eat the feet, though they were mostly bones.