Let the challenge begin

Food is the way to a man's heart, I am told.  I also believe food is the only way to my heart.  Every night I have to scour the internet for food blogs and recipes to give me inspiration.  Many a times my B has caught me starring at my Iphone looking through the many beautiful photos of food on Foodgawker (what a wonderful app).  He regularly jokes that food is like porn to me, it is my secret guilty pleasure.  I will admit I am definitely addicted to food, I love to look at food, think about food, dream about food.  I am consumed with thoughts of food 24 hours a day, I plan my dinner before I've even finished breakfast.  However, even though I have this unhealthy obsession with food, I realise I have a very limited variety of food I actually cook on a regular basis.  Of course I have my trusty favourites, like my roasted honey garlic chicken thighs and my stir fried pork belly with aubergines in black bean sauce (recipes for laters); but even I can get tired of eating the same dishes day in day out.

Back in July my B proposed to me after 5 years together, and from that day I decided to keep my man happy with food.  After all, food is the way to a man's heart, right?! All the recipes I've ripped out from magazines and the ones I've saved from the internet will finally come in handy; instead of gawking at the beautiful pictures of food, why not finally make it reality and taste the food as well.

So I will become the ultimate housewife, I will be a super housewife.  I will work 5 days a week (at the moment 3 days a week), I will clean the house till it's sparkling (well, tidy at the very least) and I will feed my B and my future BBs home cooked nutritious yummy meals.   My challenge has begun, after weeks of procrastinating (yes, starring at pictures of food again) I decided to trial my first dish today.

I scoured my collection of recipes and finally kicked off my challenge with an unusual dish: slow cooked chicken feet in coca cola (Chinese style).  I am after all Chinese, so I thought I may as well return to my roots.  Chicken feet are not my favourite ingredient to use or eat but it is always the dish we order when we "yam cha" (lunch of dim sum).  We usually order it steamed in black bean sauce that is very aromatic and gelatinous to eat.  The traditional method usually deep fries the chicken feet first to give it some bite (it is mostly fat and skin), but I didn't fancy deep frying in my small kitchen.  So I decided to skip that stage, besides if the feet aren't deep fried it will make the dish more healthy (i think...).

But what sauce should I cook it in?  My favourite of course... Hong Kong Swiss sauce.  It is sweet and savoury that sticks to the meat.  Traditionally it is cooked using chicken wings, but chicken feet will do.

To save washing, why not use my trusty slow cooker? Plus I won't need to keep my eye on the stove every 5 minutes, so I can carry on watching the Food Network without any interruptions (except for my B shouting from his study about whether the food if ready yet).

I bought a pack of frozen chicken feet from my local oriental supermarket. I love shopping in the oriental shops, I always uncover some new ingredient to experience and the boss is always helpful about how it should be cooked.

The only thing I hate about cooking chicken feet is the preparation.  The defrosted chicken feet have to be pedicured.  The claws or "nails" as I call them have to be clipped to make it more appetising.  They can be easily clipped using kitchen scissors; I try not to think too much about it because it always grosses my out with the thought of it, but it has to be done.

The pedicured feet are then placed in the slow cooker ready to be bathed in the sweet sticky Swiss sauce.  The sauce is made up of the usual foundations of Chinese cooking: ginger, garlic, soy sauce and star anise.  To make the sauce sweet and sticky, a can of coca cola and more sugar is added.  I also added some fresh chillies and Thai chilli sauce to give it some kick.  When the cola is cooked down the consistency makes it very moorish and addictive.

Heat up all the ingredients for the sauce and then pour over the chicken feet.  Turn the slow cooker on to high and leave to cook for 3-4 hours.  After this time, the chicken feet will be soft and a beautiful browned colour.  The aroma whilst it is cooking will make your tummy rumble and salivary glands flowing (well, mine did!) Fish the feet out and pile up in a dish.  Heat up the sauce from the slow cooker in a saucepan until the sauce thickens up to a syrupy consistency.  Finally pour over the feet and garnish for presentation, or like me, dig straight in!! I think for my first challenge, it turned out very successful.  My B loved it and even finished off the sauce by mixing it into his bowl of jasmine rice, definitely addictive!!  (Unfortunately my pictures do not do it justice, will need to improve on my photography skills, in keeping with my obsession).

Chicken Feet in Hong Kong Swiss Sauce (will feed 4-6 people)

• approximately 1kg chicken feet
• 1 can of coca cola
• 1tbsp brown sugar
• 1tbsp light soy sauce
• 1tbsp chilli sauce
• 1/2 chilli
• 2 slices ginger root
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 star anise (broken up)
• cornstarch

Wash the chicken feet and remove the claws using kitchen scissors.

Place prepared chicken feet in a slow cooker and turn the slow cooker to high.

Meanwhile place the cola, sugar, soy sauce, chilli sauce, sliced chillies, ginger garlic and star anise in a saucepan.  Heat up the sauce until it bubbles and all the ingredients are incorporated. 

Pour sauce over the chicken feet.  Put lid on the slow cooker and leave to cook on high for 3-4 hours.  

When ready, remove chicken feet from sauce and leave aside ready for assemble. 

Pour sauce back into saucepan and heat up to reduce.  The sauce should thicken to a syrupy consistency.  If needed, the sauce can be thickened up with cornstarch.  Mix a tbsp of cornstarch with 4 tbsp cold water.  Mix well until combined and add to the sauce to thicken.  

When sauce reaches the desired consistency, pour over the chicken feet and garnish with spring onions, coriander or more fresh chillies.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy with jasmine rice or as a snack with beer.