
Chicken Feet and Wintermelon Soup
Chicken Feet and Wintermelon Soup
Soup Name:
Chicken Feet and Wintermelon Soup
Chinese Name:
冬瓜雞腳湯 (dōng guā jī jiǎo tāng)
Nature: Cooling
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The feet of the chicken are one of the Chinese’s most interesting “unwanted” parts of the chicken (after the bottom parts). It’s so versatile that the Chinese use chicken feet in soups, stews, dim sum and other dishes. I remember back in the days when I was a young lad that my parents would go to the Western super markets and get chicken feet by the bags for a whole dollar.
t’s definitely not as cheap anymore because of the influx of demanding chicken feet eaters, but still an affordable, tasty and collagen packed ingredient. This wintermelon soup is simple to make and if you’re a single gal (or guy) you can make it in a one person pot.
And depending on how soft you like your feet, you can boil longer or shorter. They are an amazing source of collagen (by the way), which allow for retention of moisture and bounce in the skin! Dip in soy sauce! So delicious!

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 60 mins
Total time: 70 mins
Serves: 6 servings
- 10 fresh (or frozen) chicken feet
- 3 fresh corn, quartered
- 1 large slice of wintermelon, sliced with skin on
- 70g fresh gingo biloba
- 70g dried lotus seeds
- 1 slice of ginger
- 2 L of water
- Soak the gingo biloba and lotus seed in warm water for 10 minutes
- Rinse and cut off the nails on your chicken feet
- In a small pot of boiling water, blanch your chicken feet for 5 minutes
- Remove chicken feet from boiling water, strain and set aside
- Boil your soup water
- When the soup boils, throw all the ingredients together
- Boil on high (covered) for 30 minutes, reduce to a medium boil for another 30 minutes (you can continue to boil or use a thermal cooker to keep it hot, as some people love their chicken feet super soft)
- Serve and enjoy!