Chicken feet are tasty and very, very good for you.
That’s the message from an article on the advantages of chicken feet in the latest issue of the Poultry Bulletin, official journal of the SA Poultry Association (SAPA).
South Africa is a net importer of chicken feet. South Africa’s large poultry producers feed nearly 1 200 tons of feet a week into the local market, but the demand is far greater than that. Official statistics show that in 2023, the country imported 57 308 tons of chicken feet and exported 1 803 tons, mainly to neighbouring states.
Chicken feet are highly sought after in China, Vietnam and Hong Kong. In Jamaica, they call chicken feet “lady fingers”, and often make a soup with it that features pumpkin, carrots, yam, bananas and spices.
Jamaican foot soup is slowly cooked over pimento wood for at least two hours. Known as “phoenix feet” in China, chicken feet are seen as a symbol of luck and good fortune.
There is a Chinese saying that “He who eats chicken foot soup every day will always have happiness.”
In Indonesia, the “claw” (as locals refer to it), is served in a soup dish called Soto, while soft, peeled, boneless chicken feet are commonly served to babies between 6 and 12 months old. Indonesians also like their chicken feet deep fried, a snack they call kripik ceker or chicken-feet crackers.
Frans van Heerden, Astral’s managing director: commercial, says that SA’s largest chicken producer supplies two feet products into the local market. These are “walkie talkies”, or heads and feet in the same pack, and so-called “clean” feet. The latter is a higher-grade product with the outer layer of skin removed.
The publication sets out the health benefits of chicken feet, or “walkies”.
“The protein in chicken feet is roughly 70% collagen, a structural protein in our bodies that is responsible for the health of our skin, tendons, muscles, bones and ligaments,” it says.
“Studies conducted with collagen show all kinds of extraordinary health benefits: it can reduce wrinkles, remove cellulite, increase the elasticity of your skin, stimulate tissue regeneration to reduce symptoms of arthritis, improve knee pain, and increase bone formation and density in post-menopausal women.
“The other nutrients in walkies – copper, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and calcium – boost the immune system, while their high levels of protein, chondroitin and glucosamine are very good for the digestive system, help to detox the liver and also reduce inflammation.”
The Poultry Bulletin article concludes with a recipe for chicken-feet bone broth to use as a stock for soups or to add to stews and bredies.
