中文菜谱：
泡椒凤爪
The NBA games between Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors are going on! We instantly transform into coach potatoes when the game starts. Plus cold beers and good snacks make the game night more fun! O(∩_∩)O~
Our favorite snacks for game night are chicken wings, popcorns, roasted peanuts, roasted sun flower seeds, hot and spicy duck necks, and pickled chicken feet. Some of them sound exotic and bizarre? Not at all! They are all widely popular in Asian countries for a really long time. You have to try them yourselves to see how tasty they can be.
For chicken feet boiling：
2 packages of chicken feet (weighs about 4 lbs; sold in Asian grocery stores)
1 to 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1 large piece of ginger root, smashed
3 to 4 star anises
1 teaspoon Sichuan pepper corns
1 black cardamom pod, smashed
4 to 5 cloves
3 to 4 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried ginger
a handful of dried red chili peppers, cut into pieces
For pickling：
1 bowl of Sichuan style pickled chili peppers
1 cup of pickle juice
2 to 3 cups of icy water
granulated sugar to taste
rice vinegar to taste
sea salt to taste
Directions：
I make my own Sichuan style pickled peppers from scratch. They taste better when they are homemade together with a variety of vegetables and spices. But you can always find them available in Asian grocery stores.
Finely chop the peppers and set aside for later use.
Add star anises, Sichuan peppercorns, cardamom, dried ginger, cloves, bay leaves, chili peppers to a piece of coffee filter paper. Wrap and tie it up to be a spice bag.
Rinse chicken feet under running water. Remove nails with a sharp knife or a pair of kitchen scissors.
Add to a soup pot, along with water, spice bag, ginger root and rice cooking wine.
Cook over high heat until the water boils. Reduce to medium heat and continue to cook for another 10 to 15 minutes.
Discard the spice bag and ginger. Rinse chicken feet under running water again for a few minutes.
With a sharp cleaver, cut each chicken into halves.
Add chicken feet to a large bowl, along with pickle juice, vinegar, sea salt, sugar, icy water and chopped pickled peppers.
Mix well with a large spoon. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Just like regular pickles, it will take a couple days for pickled chicken feet to taste best.
Remember to stir the chicken once in a while so that every chicken foot will be pickled and seasoned more evenly.
Don’t forget it will take a couple days to pickle. Feel free to make them ahead of time. The longer they sit in the fridge, the better the flavors will be.
I buy some beers made in Czech from Central Market. They taste mild and smooth, just like a regular American beer.
Interested in more Sichuan style pickles? Here are some more：
Stir-fried Sichuan Style Pickled String Beans and Ground Pork
