This is Diana’s recipe for braised chicken feet. It’s the first time I’ve seen chicken feet cooked through in beer, and the outcome was great! It’s not exactly the same as what you’d get at Yum Cha (for dim sum braised chicken feet, you have to cook the chicken through a few times i.e. deep fry it, steam it etc, stir fry it etc.) but I find this low effort to high flavour impact ratio the best.
If it’s your first time handling chicken feet and have any questions, send a DM through on my Instagram and I’ll get back to you ASAP!
If you’re a visual learner, watch me make it here.


Braised Chicken Feet (shortcut dim sum-style)
Ingredients
- 900 g Chicken feet
- Spring onions
- 2-3 cm of Ginger
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine
- 2 Star anise
- 3 Bay leaves
- 1 Cinnamon
- 1 Hot chili
- 1 Light soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon Dark soy sauce (this is a must, gives it the colour)
- 1 tablespoon Oyster sauce
- 1 rock Crystal sugar (or 1 tablespoon white sugar)
- ½ tablespoon Salt
- Bottle of beer
Instructions
- Clean your chicken. Using salt, scrub the chicken with your hands. Run under cold water to get rid of the salt flakes. Grab a chopping board and chop off the fingernails.
- Now to cook your chicken. Grab a pan or pot, deep enough to boil the chicken feet in. Turn to medium heat. Add ginger & spring onion. Let it toast for a few minutes until fragrant. Add cold water. Add chicken feet, ensuring the feet are submerged. Add shaoxing cooking wine. Bring to boil, then pop back down to medium heat. Put the lid on and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Now take it off the heat. Don't throw away this liquid, you've now got a very nutritious broth to serve on the side/repurpose.
- In a separate pan on medium high heat, add oil. Add ginger, Sichuan pepper, star anise, bay leaf, cinnamon and chilli and toast for a few minutes. Then add chicken feet, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, crystal and salt. Mix together, coating the feet in the flavour. Add beer. bring it to a boil, then turn down on low-medium heat.
- Cover with a lid and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until tender. (Check the chicken feet from time to time and make sure there's enough liquid during braising. Add more broth if you think more liquid is needed, don't let it burn!)
- Remove the lid, and turn the heat to high. Stir fry until the sauce has thickened. If it's lacking a bit of colour, add a dash of dark soy, you'll see it come through. To serve, garnish with chopped spring onions at the end and voilà. Enjoy!
Is there any substitute for oyster sauce?