chickens feet

[eleanor2]

honest today i went to visit a malaysian friend.there was a chinese woman there.my sister and niece came too.we had a lovely asian dinner.starter stuffed pork steamers.yummy like big dough buns stuffed with pork and steamed.then a spicy soup then salad ,chicken and spiced rice. an hour later a thai friend called in with pans of food.one of them was chines chicken feet soup.well it looked gruesome.but i just cant help being adventurous.it is like a small gnarled soft hand with three fingers.you eat the flesh and leacve the bone(hope no vegetarians read this) there was tofu chunks too.it was o.k.but they eat it regulary.my sister felt sick just looking at it.said she was sorry but couldn't even try it.what adventurous food have you eaten.do you think yu could have even tried the chicken feet.

[Crocus]

Oh goodness Eleanor, I don't think so! Perhaps it's the sight of it and not the taste as such, but I really don't think so!

[keepersdaughter]

Eleanor, I'm afraid I just wouldn't have been able to try it. I do like cooking and trying different foods, particularly love Italian, and Thai. Though dislike octopus and squid which is very popular especially in southern Italy. Could only bring myself to try half an escargot in Paris. I remember my parents eating jellied eels - urgh. Couldn't eat anything with a face or hand or foot looking back at me.

[eleanor2]

i must admit sitting here thinking about it i dont know how i could.i just love other peoples culture.this thai lady is very wealthy.they do not have to eat chicken feet.yet by what she said they eat them often.i think most English people could only eat them if they were starving.i had mussels for the first time whilst in harrogate.now i really enjoyed them.dont think i could eat jellied eels.these chicken feet did not look nice quite gruesome really.

[jazzactivist]

Yuck, eleanor! I have seen chicken's feet for sale in Chinese supermarkets, but have never been tempted to try them. As children in South Africa we were often given the feet to play with - if you pull the different sinews the toes curl up and down, quite gruesome really. The strangest thing that I have ever eaten was snake, which was in a Thai restaurant. The cook brought it to the table live in a closed bag and showed the diners the thickness of it through the bag. When we agreed he walloped it dead with the back of his machete and then took it away to cook it. It tasted like bony roast pork.

[eleanor2]

jazz i dont know about a live snake.m mum is phobic she would pass out if she was in a restaurant and a live snake was bought out t be shown to some one. see i find other cultures fascinating.we have to realise some of the poorer countries these recipes developed because of poverty and lack of food.then people either like the taste or eat it cus it is part of their home and culture.these chicken feet loked revolting and were not very tasty.i still havn't tried frogs legs in France yet.

[Crocus]

iI'm afraid I'll rather have the "usual" stuff, no snake, octopus, snails, etc for me thanks.

[eleanor2]

i agree crocus i pick the usual,usually but like participating in cutural dishes.i have tried crocodile and i think kangaroo.in G.B on a theme night not in aussie.

[bluebell]

I hadn't been married very long when I had gastric flu,and I was really off my food for weeks, my parents in law came to visit and my appetite was still very poor. My mother in law decided to make me something tasty, Tripe cooked in milk with boiled onions!! It put me back weeks!! She told me it was a standard for people convalescing after illness.I suspect she was trying to finish me off,I wasn't in her good books because we didn't have a big wedding,just atrip to the registery office with 2 witnesses.

[Crocus]

Oh my goodness bluebell, it will put me back weeks as well! It don't like (or eat) tripe at the best of times, not to mention when being ill! I thought the standard food for people convalescing was chicken soup! xxx

[eleanor2]

bluebell arn't the oldies funny.my dad loves tripe and vinegar.yet again i think it comes from a time when people couldn't afford expensive meat.tripe was a substitute. i wonder if you can still buy tripe.i also wonder if those from east asia would look at our tripe like we look at their chicken feet.

[sunflower]

When my cousin and I were about 13 years old, our Granny won a pig's head in a raffle. Gran and Auntie came back from the fete exhausted so asked us if we would make a cup of tea. Well, there in the kitchen...complete with eyes was this pigs head staring at us. We made a fuss about going back into the kitchen, but were told not to be so silly. That evening my cousin and I were served up this strange grey soup with bits floating on the top. It was pig brain!!! Granny and Auntie were very strict and insisted that we eat it....so we did.....gagging all the way!!

[Katelb]

I don't think I could have faced chicken feet soup either,I have tried many things including frogs legs which are very nice if properly cooked,snails which are also very good, and I remember having tripe at school ,we only had it once,there was too much mess afterwards,I think everyone was ill after it!! calves brains in viniagrette is quite good,and sweetbreads are also good if properly cooked.With the exception of the snails which I tried in France,I tasted the other dishes when I first went to London at the hotel I lived and worked in, so I know they were well presented.