By Request

By Betty Shimabukuro

Wednesday, November 11, 1998

By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
James Lee of Hee Hing Restaurant lifts a batch of freshly fried
chicken feet from the hot oil. The frying makes the feet puff up.
After frying, the feet are marinated in a chile and black bean
mixture, then steamed in the marinade to produce the final delicacy.

---

Dive in,
feet first

Try dim sum-style chicken feet
and other Chinese dishes

WASH chicken feet. Chop off toenails. Not a recipe for the chicken-hearted, so to speak.

But Elizabeth Ching wants to make dim-sum-style chicken feet at home. Specifically, she says, "I would like to know how to puff the chicken feet so they become very light and fluffy."

James Lee, owner of Hee Hing Restaurant, says the feet are fried first, then marinated, then steamed. The frying makes them puff.

His recipe follows, as well as Hee Hing's recipe for Honey-Glazed Walnut Shrimp, which reader Carol Lum seeks to make.

And, in keeping with today's theme of things Chinese, Cyndi Najarian is looking for a traditional recipe for stuffed duck. This recipe turned up in a tiny, little cookbook from the '60s.

If you've never had chicken feet, imagine a wad of chicken skin slip-sliding around your mouth. Then you spit out the bones.

Not that that should discourage you. The sauce is a pungent, spicy mix that gives this uniquely textured dish its zing.

Golden Phoenix Claws

1 pound chicken feet
2 quarts oil
2 quarts water
1 ounce fresh ginger
3 pieces star anise
2 ounces Chinese parsley roots
2 ounces maltose sugar (see note)

Marinade:
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sake
1 ounce chopped chile pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon black bean sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame seed oil

Wash feet, chop off toenails and cut into quarters.

Heat oil to 350 degrees. Mix chicken feet with maltose and fry until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Remove and drain.

Boil water and add ginger, star anise and parsley roots. Add feet. Bring to boil again, then reduce heat and simmer 90 minutes. Drain.

Combine marinade ingredients. Marinate feet 24 hours. Before serving, steam feet and marinade 15 minutes. Serves 3.

Note: Maltose is a syrup used for cooking and brewing beer. Oahu Homebrew Supply sells it for $2.25 a pound.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per 2 ounce serving: 300 calories, 18 g total fat, 5 g saturated fat, 55 mg cholesterol,greater than 1,100 mg sodium.*

Honey-Glazed Walnut Shrimp

2-3 ounces Honey Walnuts (recipe follows)
8 ounces medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 egg white
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups vegetable oil
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon condensed milk
1/2 tablespoon evaporated milk

Butterfly shrimp, coat with egg white and then cornstarch. Heat oil to 350 degrees and fry shrimp until crispy but not brown, about 2 minutes. Remove and drain.

Warm remaining ingredients on medium heat. Do not boil. Add shrimp and nuts. Serves 2.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per 3-ounce serving: 480 calories, 270 g total fat, 4 g saturated fat, 170 mg cholesterol, 270mg sodium.*

Honey-Glazed Walnuts

10-1/3 cups water, divided use
3/4 pound shelled walnuts
4 tablespoons sugar
5 cups vegetable oil

Bring 5 cups water to a boil and add nuts. Boil 5 minutes, then remove and drain. Rinse nuts in cold running water and drain again. Repeat the process with another 5 cups of water.

Bring remaining 1/3 cup water to boil in a wok. Add sugar and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add nuts and stir until nuts are coated and liquid has evaporated. Remove nuts and drain.

Wash and dry wok. Heat oil to 350 degrees. Fry nuts 4-5 minutes until golden brown. Remove, drain and cool on a baking sheet, separating them so they won't stick together. Makes 1 pound.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per 1-ounce serving: 220 calories, 20 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, no cholesterol, 5 mg sodium*

Roast Duck

"Chinese Cooking with Margaret Lau,"
Mid Pacific Book Distributors, 1962

1/4 cup pearl barley
1/4 cup lean pork, cubed
4 dried mushrooms, cubed
1/4 cup garbanzo beans
1/2 cup water chestnuts
1 teaspoon gin
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup chicken stock
3-4 pound precooked roast duck (available frozen at supermarkets such as Daiei)

Prepare barley according to package directions.

Fry pork 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and cooked barley. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Cool.

Stuff duck, place in a large casserole or bowl. Steam 3-1/2 hours, or until falling-apart tender. Serves 6.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per 5-ounce serving: 590 calories, 44 g total fat, 15 g saturated fat, 130 mg cholesterol,570 mg sodium.*

---

Send queries, along with name and phone number, to: By Request, Honolulu Star-Bulletin Food Section, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, HI 96802.

Send queries along with name and phone number to:
By Request, Honolulu Star-Bulletin Food Section,
P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Or send e-mail to features@starbulletin.com

Asterisk (*) after nutritional analyses in the Body & Soul section indicates calculations by Joannie Dobbs of Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.