I had my first taste of chicken feet at a street barbecue stand. Adidas, along with betamax and isaw are common menu items at these streetside stands.  It was an interesting experience, the meat was good if you were patient enough to pick out the bones (some people actually eat the smaller bones). It was sort of like eating bony bangus, you had to stop once in a while to pick out the tiny slivers of bone.

Then I discovered chicken feet dimsum, and I immediately preferred this way of cooking chicken feet. The bones and the meat separated more easily compared to grilled adidas. You still have to deal with the tiny bones though  but more of the tasty bits are liberated from the bone.

Chicken feet adobo is a dish that an uncle of mine used to cook. Tiyo would clean the feet, boil them and then add the other adobo ingredients. I tried this method before but it still left a lot of the meat stuck on the bone.

Enter the pressure cooker.

I recently bought a replacement rubber seal for our old pressure cooker. I was satisfied that I was able to cook very tender nilagang baka on it. I decided to use the pressure cooker to soften the chicken feet and the results turned out quite good.

Presence of mind is required for any cooking activity. The same goes for hygiene, slicing and serving, all should be undertaken with the necessary care. Be extra careful though when handling a hot pressure cooker. Let it cool down by itself or let it cool down under a running faucet. NEVER open or even attempt to open one that is still hissing.There is enough pressure there to spray your ceiling with boiling water. Imagine that boiling water hitting you.

I hope you enjoy preparing and eating this dish. Thanks for visiting!

Ingredients :

1 kg cleaned chicken feet
1/2 cup coco vinegar
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 pc bay leaf
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2 tbsp black beans (optional)

Procedure:
1. Clean chicken feet: chop nails and scrape outer layer of skin with a knife.  Clean the sole thoroughly.

2. Put chicken feet into a pressure cooker and add just enough water to cover all the pieces. Cook at high pressure for 15 minutes.

3. Remove pressure cooker from the heat and let it cool down. Once cooker is safe to open, pour out all the broth and drain chicken feet well. You can save the broth for later use in soups and other dishes.

4. Put all remaining ingredients in a wok or pot. simmer for 20 minutes.

5. You may add salt or additional soy sauce to taste.

6. Serve with hot plain rice, and a spicy vinegar dip.  Good for 3 - 4 people.