Destination
Phuket
The story
Tom yum teen gai is Bangkok's chicken-feet tom yum — a specifically Thai preparation of the country's most famous soup applied to a nose-to-tail ingredient: chicken feet, slow-simmered for 90 minutes until the skin turns gelatinous and silky, in the classical tom yum broth (lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime, fish sauce, palm sugar, chili and lime), with the addition of straw mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. The result is a sharp-sour hot-and-fierce soup with the specific silky texture that only chicken feet provide. Sold at Bangkok late-night noodle shops and every Thai household that appreciates offal — a classical Chinese-Thai preparation.
Method
Trim the nails off each chicken foot with kitchen scissors. Rinse thoroughly.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add chicken feet; blanch 3 minutes. Drain and rinse.
In a large pot, combine water, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime, shallots, garlic and crushed chilies. Bring to a boil, then simmer 15 minutes to infuse.
Add blanched chicken feet. Simmer 75 to 90 minutes over low heat until the feet are completely tender and gelatinous.
Add mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. Simmer 5 minutes.
Off the heat, add fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar and (if using) nam prik pao. Stir to dissolve sugar.
Balance sharp-salty-sweet-hot. Adjust as needed.
Ladle into bowls with plenty of the aromatic broth. Top with coriander, spring onion and chili. Serve with rice or thin noodles on the side.
Tips
- Trim the nails. Not optional — leaves them looking cleaner and reduces any funky flavour.
- Long simmer for gelatinous texture. Ninety minutes gives you the classical silky skin.
- Nam prik pao is the Thai secret. Roasted-chili paste in the broth adds smoky depth.
- For non-offal eaters: substitute chicken drumsticks. Same broth, different protein.
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