'Phoenix Claws' or 'Chicken Feet'

There are several litmus tests for the unwary foreigner eager to try local cuisine. The more obvious hurdles are stinky tofu and the notorious century eggs, both of which are definitely acquired tastes.

But the true test comes with the off-cuts or ordinary animals like pigs, cows ... and chickens.

The Chinese cook wastes nothing from beak or snout to tail and feet, and everything inside the animal as well.

Take the famous "phoenix claws", beloved in every province but especially in the south and southwest of China.

The humble barnyard chicken is elevated to legendary heights when it arrives on the banquet table, and blessed with the "phoenix" moniker.

Its feet, a treasured delicacy among gourmets, is thus branded phoenix claws.

To those who enjoy the collagen and tendons of the chicken feet, the name is more than justified, but I know plenty who are new to China who shrink away in disgust.

Why? Those of us who have had chickens scratching around in the back garden would understand. The chicken's feet are used to industriously claw through soil and manure to dig up bugs and worms and other tasty morsels in the bird's unceasing quest for food.

But the same people who think chicken feet too dirty to enjoy are also strangers to the Chinese kitchen.

Chicken feet are methodically cleansed and clipped before they are prepared, the hard outer skin is carefully stripped, leaving the tenderest layer. The outer nails also come off. And every claw is clipped before cooking.

As a result, the claw, almost fatless, is a tender package of skin and tendons, and a natural source of collagen.