China · Chinese
Wine-lees marinated goose feet
The third cold starter of the three-head banquet. Goose feet are blanched to remove any gaminess, then simmered gently with scallion, ginger, wine, fennel, Sichuan pepper, bay leaf and small red chillies until the bones give easily, deboned while still hot, and finally soaked overnight in a wine-lees brine. The aroma comes from the fermented lees sitting on top of the spice broth; eaten cold, the meat is soft and sticky rather than stringy. Public reference · home adaptation, not a historical original.
Public reference · Home adaptation Wine lees are the old Jiangnan way of seasoning cold dishes: ingredients are soaked in the fermented mash, and the aroma comes from the slightly sour fermentation rather than from spices. Wine-lees goose feet belong to the same 'wine-lees brine' family as salted duck and wine-lees duck — simmer first, soak after, and eat cold. The feet are simmered until an fingernail will lift the bone, then deboned while hot, because they cannot be boned once cold and the platter will not show a whole foot. Note that 'three heads' here means the three signature dishes — braised pig's head, crab lion's-head and boned silver-carp head — not the heads of three animals. The 2018 group-standard report lists the cold dishes by name only, so **this technique comes from public 酒糟 home recipes and has no correspondence to the banquet's own kitchen method**; it is not a historical original. **The seat list records only the dish name, not the method; this version's technique comes from public 糟卤 home recipes on xiachufang, such as the wine-lees chicken feet, and has no correspondence to the actual three-head-banquet kitchen method.** It is not a historical original or a house secret. The public source is a **chicken-feet** recipe; this version applies the same blanch–spice-simmer–wine-lees-soak sequence to **goose feet**, whose larger size means the cooking time and the test for bone release are re-set by the editor for 4 servings and **have not been kitchen-tested**. Only ready-to-eat alcohol-containing wine-lees brine is used, never raw fermenting lees cake, to avoid home fermentation safety risk. The overnight soak is not counted in the cooking time, so this needs a day's planning. Deboned-and-boned goose feet kept cold must be sealed and reheated thoroughly before eating (see the allergen note). Only the technique is taken; no therapeutic claims are adopted. Contains wheat (cooking wine) and alcohol (wine-lees brine); the brine and seasonings may also contain soy, so check labels. **This is a poultry product and must be thoroughly reheated before being eaten cold** — Salmonella risk is highest in poultry and in raw-to-ready cross-contamination, so this step cannot be skipped. Buy properly slaughtered chilled feet, not product of unknown origin. Only the technique is taken; no therapeutic claims are adopted. 下厨房：史上最美味最简单的香糟鸡爪 — The method itself (the 酒糟 brine sequence): chicken feet are washed and blanched, then started in cold water with scallion, ginger and wine; after 5 minutes from the boil the heat is off and the feet are washed again. They go back into cold water covering the feet with wine, ginger, scallion, fennel seed, Sichuan pepper, bay leaf, salt and two small red chillies, brought to the boil then simmered about an hour to a texture of the cook's choosing (soft or with a bite), and afterwards soaked in the wine-lees brine. This version applies the same sequence to goose feet with a longer cook. https://m.xiachufang.com/recipe/104375267/ 扬州晚报美食团：扬州发布“三头宴”团体标准（搜狐，2018-01-18） — Seat evidence: the eight cold starters are listed in order — scallion jellyfish, two-shoot salad, wine-marinated goose feet, scallion shrimp, ginkgo and mushrooms, Qinyou fuzi, crisp-braised crucian carp and jellied pork trotter — placing the wine-marinated goose feet third. The report gives dish names and groupings only, with no methods. https://www.sohu.com/a/217424559_740963 淮扬菜 — 维基百科 — Cuisine context: Huaiyang cooking belongs to the Jiangsu school, its banquet section lists the three-head banquet, and the entry emphasises the school's knife work and natural flavour, supporting placement under Jiangsu cuisine. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B7%AE%E6%89%AC%E8%8F%9C AI-generated illustration; not kitchen-tested.
Ingredients
- fresh goose feet, claw tips trimmed800 g
- water for blanching and simmering3000 ml
- scallions, cut into segments60 g
- ginger, sliced30 g
- cooking wine40 ml
- salt20 g
- star anise-fennel seed8 g
- Sichuan pepper5 g
- bay leaves3 piece
- small red chillies4 piece
- ready-to-eat wine-lees brine400 ml
- rock sugar15 g
Directions
- 1
Trim the claw tips, scrub the feet to remove surface fat and the outer keratin, and clean between the toes. Start them in cold water with ginger slices and cooking wine, boil 5 minutes once it returns to the boil, then lift out and wash away the scum in warm water and rinse under cool water.
- 2
Take a clean pot, cover the feet with cold water, and add scallion segments, ginger, wine, fennel seed, Sichuan pepper, bay leaf, small chillies and salt. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a bare simmer that bubbles without boiling hard. Goose feet are much thicker than chicken feet, so **simmer gently for about 60–80 minutes**.
- 3
Test the texture: a chopstick pushed in through the back of the foot should pass fairly easily through the soft tissue between the toes, and a fingernail should lift the scales. **Do not cook until the skin splits**, or the feet will fall apart and cannot be plated. Turn off the heat, cover and leave 20 minutes so the residual heat softens the meat.
- 4
Lift out the feet and bone them while hot. Split each along the back with a small knife and remove every toe bone and the palm bone whole. **This must be done hot** — once cold the meat contracts onto the bone and will not clean up on the table. It is the slowest step, so use pointed scissors or a dedicated boning knife.
- 5
In a clean container, pour over enough ready-to-eat wine-lees brine to cover the deboned feet, sweeten with rock sugar, seal and refrigerate overnight (at least 6 hours). **This chilling time is not counted in the cooking time.** Use only ready-to-eat brine, never a raw fermenting lees cake.
- 6
Lift the feet out before serving, drain off the excess brine and arrange them neatly on a platter, palm side up with the toes spread so each foot reads clearly, then spoon over a little brine and a few drops of sesame oil. **This is eaten cold, but it must be thoroughly heated first**: cold dressed poultry carries a Salmonella risk, so for home preparation reheat until piping hot in the centre, then cool before serving.
Source: WorldBite · public-reference adaptation · Source-attributed editorial adaptation; AI illustration; not an authenticated original recipe.