POLOKWANE – Traditional Cuisine remains one of the most uniting dishes in most cultures.

Chicken feet also known as Menatlana here in Limpopo remain one of the best cuts on a chicken, if well cooked they can be enjoyed as a meal or a snack.

Review spoke to 26-year-old chef, Vivian Madiba Malope, from Westenburg to find out how to prepare them.

“I started cooking from a very young age as young as 12 years, I think I was in grade 6. I studied Food preparation and culinary arts at Waterberg Tvet College and I am currently running my own catering business,” She said.

She said that preparing the dish can be a bit challenging however it is doable.

“First and foremost one needs to know the pre-process of getting the chicken feet cleaned up, such as soaking them in hot boiling water to remove the scaly skin and nail off the nails to ensure that they are clean and ready for cooking.”

The making process is relatively complex.

We need at least four steps: removing the hard skin on the chicken and the nails using hot boiling water and washing them thoroughly before cooking them however one must be careful not soak the chicken feet for too long in the hot water as they start to get too soft and fall of the bones. Chicken feet can be cooked in various ways; they can be boiled together with half a chunk of onion seasoned with salt and pepper as well as 1 teaspoon of sugar which will help with preventing them from breaking off the skin and left to slow cook until soft and well done. And then another way that they can be prepared is by deep frying after they have been cleaned spiced/marinated, they can also be braai’d on an open fire. They can be enjoyed with pap or any side of your choice and even as they are as a snack,” she explained.

Chicken feet are usually enjoyed with other chicken bits such as chicken insides, livers, chicken necks, and other chicken insides when properly cooked and prepared.

reporter@nmgroup.co.za