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Foodie Friday: Jules Food
by Guest Writer, Valerie Whitmore Anyone who has dined with me knows that I'm pretty fearless when it comes to food. If I see an unusual item on a menu I'm drawn to it. I've always been like that, even as a kid. I can probably thank my dad for that. He would always eat foods deemed strange by others and that rubbed off on me
I was probably the only kid I knew that got excited about things like frogs legs on a menu. Or would request cow tongue when shopping at the deli with my mom. Of course, there were the Teenage Years when I did everything in my power to conform to the mold of every other teenage girl. Weird food was SO not cool. But now that I'm grown up (mostly), I'm back to experiencing the wonderful oddities that those less adventurous eaters shun.
A couple of years ago, my next door neighbor wanted to take me for some "real" dim sum. She's from Beijing and a wonderful foodie to dine with as she's as fearless as I am. I, of course, jumped at the offer.
I'd never had dim sum before. In fact, most of the Asian food I'd experienced to that point, other than sushi, came in the form of Americanized Chinese buffets. So I'm no expert on authenticity, but the restaurant we went to seemed like the real deal. I was the only non-Asian in there, and no English was being spoken
My neighbor ordered us plate after plate of amazing food. I told her if the food was something "weird" to not tell me what it was until after I had tasted it. I wanted to form an opinion without being jaded by the ingredients. I loved everything (even after finding out what they were).
One of the final dishes we got were the hardest to hide what they were made of. It was... Are you ready
Chicken feet.
She explained how the feet are cooked, and how to eat them by gently sucking the meat off the toes. Sounds gross, I know, but it was delicious and frankly, no different than eating oddly shaped, bony, chicken wings.
I brought home a couple feet for Brent. He wasn't amused.
I haven't been back for dim sum unfortunately, but I've thought about that day, and those feet, many times since. So while looking for blogs to feature in this week's Foodie Friday, I found Jules Food...
and a recipe for dim sum style chicken feet. Bingo. My chance to have chicken feet again was here!
What I like about her blog is that it doesn't just mimic what other food blogs are doing. When I first found it, so many blogs were all doing the same seasonal pomegranate martinis or pumpkin bread. Not this blog, she had "Chipotle Bacon Pecan Caramel Apples" and "Forbidden Rice Pudding" made with black rice, along with a myriad of posts for "strange" foods like pig's tails, frog legs, beef cheeks, roasted turkey tails, and more. I was in heaven.
The photography on her blog is amazing. Some of the recipes are original it looks like, but many are adapted from other sources. They are adapted enough that it's clear she has a good grasp of cooking know-how and isn't just using someone else's recipe. This girl's got skills.
I looked through page after page of beautifully photographed recipes to find one to feature. Of course, finding "strange" ingredients is often a challenge for me living out in the 'burbs. I knew I could get the chicken feet (aka chicken paws) without much effort so I zeroed in on that recipe to try.
Warning: if you are easily squeamish you might want to stop reading here. I know this type of food isn't for everyone. I love to try new and different foods and am not ashamed of it. I think everyone should try new foods when they get the opportunity and not be prejudiced based on a preconceived notion of what something will, or won't, taste like.
Now, on to the good stuff.
All the ingredients were pretty easily obtainable. Coca-Cola (yes, you read right), garlic, sugar, ginger, soy sauce, star anise, and sambal oelek.
Even my local store carries sambal oelek but if you can't find it, or an acceptable garlic chili sauce substitute, you can use sriracha sauce. It adds heat and flavor to the recipe. Worst case, just add some crushed red pepper flakes.
And of course, don't forget the chicken feet.
The most tedious, and possibly grossest, part of the recipe is giving the chicken feet a pedicure. Yep, those nails have to come off. I had a little fun freaking out my Facebook friends with this picture
I started off using poultry shears to cut them but found just using a good knife was faster and easier
All the ingredients, minus the feet, are added to a dutch oven and heated to melt the sugar. Give it all a good stir and then add in the feet. You want the feet to be snuggled down in the liquid as much as possible.
The mixture cooks for 2-3 hours. I did what Jules suggested and cooked it for 2 hours, then let it "steep" for another hour
The sauce is strained and brought to a boil until syrupy. I tossed the feet (gently! they are very tender and will fall apart if you are too rough with them) with the sauce and then started eating.
I wasn't thrilled about using cola in this because I really wanted something authentic. But, I know what a nice syrupy glaze it makes in cooking so that's why I went ahead with the recipe. If you didn't know it had cola in it you'd never guess. The feet were wonderfully tender and flavorful. The glaze added a hint of sweetness and some spice
I couldn't get Brent to try even one (he still wasn't amused). That was fine. More feet for me
And yes, I ate them all. My dad would have been so proud.
If you want the recipe, or to see some amazing food photos, or just want to see what adventurous foodies eat, check out Jules Food!
Get the recipe: Dim Sum Style Chicken Paws
Visit Jules Food https://julesfood.blogspot.com/
I was probably the only kid I knew that got excited about things like frogs legs on a menu. Or would request cow tongue when shopping at the deli with my mom. Of course, there were the Teenage Years when I did everything in my power to conform to the mold of every other teenage girl. Weird food was SO not cool. But now that I'm grown up (mostly), I'm back to experiencing the wonderful oddities that those less adventurous eaters shun.
A couple of years ago, my next door neighbor wanted to take me for some "real" dim sum. She's from Beijing and a wonderful foodie to dine with as she's as fearless as I am. I, of course, jumped at the offer.
I'd never had dim sum before. In fact, most of the Asian food I'd experienced to that point, other than sushi, came in the form of Americanized Chinese buffets. So I'm no expert on authenticity, but the restaurant we went to seemed like the real deal. I was the only non-Asian in there, and no English was being spoken
My neighbor ordered us plate after plate of amazing food. I told her if the food was something "weird" to not tell me what it was until after I had tasted it. I wanted to form an opinion without being jaded by the ingredients. I loved everything (even after finding out what they were).
One of the final dishes we got were the hardest to hide what they were made of. It was... Are you ready
Chicken feet.
She explained how the feet are cooked, and how to eat them by gently sucking the meat off the toes. Sounds gross, I know, but it was delicious and frankly, no different than eating oddly shaped, bony, chicken wings.
I brought home a couple feet for Brent. He wasn't amused.
I haven't been back for dim sum unfortunately, but I've thought about that day, and those feet, many times since. So while looking for blogs to feature in this week's Foodie Friday, I found Jules Food...
and a recipe for dim sum style chicken feet. Bingo. My chance to have chicken feet again was here!
What I like about her blog is that it doesn't just mimic what other food blogs are doing. When I first found it, so many blogs were all doing the same seasonal pomegranate martinis or pumpkin bread. Not this blog, she had "Chipotle Bacon Pecan Caramel Apples" and "Forbidden Rice Pudding" made with black rice, along with a myriad of posts for "strange" foods like pig's tails, frog legs, beef cheeks, roasted turkey tails, and more. I was in heaven.
The photography on her blog is amazing. Some of the recipes are original it looks like, but many are adapted from other sources. They are adapted enough that it's clear she has a good grasp of cooking know-how and isn't just using someone else's recipe. This girl's got skills.
I looked through page after page of beautifully photographed recipes to find one to feature. Of course, finding "strange" ingredients is often a challenge for me living out in the 'burbs. I knew I could get the chicken feet (aka chicken paws) without much effort so I zeroed in on that recipe to try.
Warning: if you are easily squeamish you might want to stop reading here. I know this type of food isn't for everyone. I love to try new and different foods and am not ashamed of it. I think everyone should try new foods when they get the opportunity and not be prejudiced based on a preconceived notion of what something will, or won't, taste like.
Now, on to the good stuff.
All the ingredients were pretty easily obtainable. Coca-Cola (yes, you read right), garlic, sugar, ginger, soy sauce, star anise, and sambal oelek.
Even my local store carries sambal oelek but if you can't find it, or an acceptable garlic chili sauce substitute, you can use sriracha sauce. It adds heat and flavor to the recipe. Worst case, just add some crushed red pepper flakes.
And of course, don't forget the chicken feet.
The most tedious, and possibly grossest, part of the recipe is giving the chicken feet a pedicure. Yep, those nails have to come off. I had a little fun freaking out my Facebook friends with this picture
I started off using poultry shears to cut them but found just using a good knife was faster and easier
All the ingredients, minus the feet, are added to a dutch oven and heated to melt the sugar. Give it all a good stir and then add in the feet. You want the feet to be snuggled down in the liquid as much as possible.
The mixture cooks for 2-3 hours. I did what Jules suggested and cooked it for 2 hours, then let it "steep" for another hour
The sauce is strained and brought to a boil until syrupy. I tossed the feet (gently! they are very tender and will fall apart if you are too rough with them) with the sauce and then started eating.
I wasn't thrilled about using cola in this because I really wanted something authentic. But, I know what a nice syrupy glaze it makes in cooking so that's why I went ahead with the recipe. If you didn't know it had cola in it you'd never guess. The feet were wonderfully tender and flavorful. The glaze added a hint of sweetness and some spice
I couldn't get Brent to try even one (he still wasn't amused). That was fine. More feet for me
And yes, I ate them all. My dad would have been so proud.
If you want the recipe, or to see some amazing food photos, or just want to see what adventurous foodies eat, check out Jules Food!
Get the recipe: Dim Sum Style Chicken Paws
Visit Jules Food https://julesfood.blogspot.com/