John Larrysson's Kitchen: Chicken's Foot Congee
文章日期:2016年5月3日

Many Westerners have an unreasonable psychological fear of eating chicken's feet. To have eaten chicken's feet is part of the initiation to become an old China hand, such as myself. An old China hand is a Westerner who has lived here for many years. Eating the gelatin and skin off the small chicken bones needs some work, but the taste is not bad.

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I make chicken's foot congee for my wife. First the nails or claws at the end of the foot must be cut off. Having a claw scrape your throat is not fun! Then the foot must be cooked separately. I bake them in an oven when I am cooking something else, such as the rest of the chicken. They could also be fried. The cooked foot can be frozen and used later. The precooked foot is added while the congee is cooking. The flavour of the foot can be enhanced by adding a hotdog as well.

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Earlier in history, westerners ate every edible part of an animal and wasted nothing. In the spoiled modern world, they like to think that they only eat certain rich cuts of meat. In fact, companies make sure that people still eat the whole animal. In the West, chicken's feet are turned into chicken hotdogs. Chicken hotdogs taste like chicken's feet and are made from the feet and other leftover body parts.

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Long ago I wrote a new chicken's foot verse for the old folk song, London Bridge. It was for my primary two class and they loved singing it. (I have used it in many classes since then.)

 

London Bridge is falling down,

 

Falling down, falling down.

London Bridge is falling down,

My fair lady.

 

Build it up with chicken's feet,

chicken's feet, chicken's feet,

Build it up with chicken's feet,

My fair lady.

Chicken's feet, we ate them all,

We ate them all, we ate them all,

Chicken's feet, we ate them all,

My fair lady.

 

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by John Larrysson

[email protected]

A native English speaker who has been teaching practical English in Hong Kong for over two decades.

London Bridge the whole song: (www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Y7Qi3fMs0)

London Bridge is falling down,

Falling down, falling down.

London Bridge is falling down,

My fair lady.

Build it up with iron bars,

Iron bars, iron bars,

Build it up with iron bars,

My fair lady.

Iron bars will bend and break,

Bend and break, bend and break,

Iron bars will bend and break,

My fair lady.

Build it up with needles and pins,

needles and pins, needles and pins,

Build it up with needles and pins,

My fair lady.

Pins and needles rust and bend,

rust and bend, rust and bend,

Pins and needles rust and bend,

My fair lady.

Build it up with gold and silver,

Gold and silver, gold and silver,

Build it up with gold and silver,

My fair lady.

Gold and silver I've not got,

I've not got, I've not got,

Gold and silver I've not got,

My fair lady.

London Bridge is falling down,

Falling down, falling down.

London Bridge is falling down,

My fair lady.

Build it up with chicken's feet,

chicken's feet, chicken's feet,

Build it up with chicken's feet,

My fair lady.

Chicken's feet, we ate them all,

we ate them all, we ate them all,

Chicken's feet, we ate them all,

My fair lady.

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