Export of chicken feet to China and Viet Nam have increased in Karnataka's Mangalore city as the countries relished these feet, reports Sify. In India, chicken feet are considered a waste and are discarded.

The Souza Chicken, a prominent hatchery in Mangalore is exporting almost 12 tonnes of chicken feet to the China and the Far East every month.

Lester D'Souza, managing partner of Souza Chicken, said they have recently added the export of chicken feet to their poultry business.

He said: "The latest addition to our business has been the export of frozen chicken feet to Hong Kong and Viet Nam, which has been going on for past one year. We developed this market for chicken feet when customers from abroad contacted us through our web site for chicken feet.

"They came down, they showed us processing by which rearing, selection, cleaning, packing and supply was to take place and after we got these details from them, we have been exporting one container a month for past one year."

Mr D'Souza added that chicken feet are neatly cut and cleaned without using any inorganic chemicals and are shipped out in freezer units used for exports, once a month to China, Hong Kong and Viet Nam.

Chicken feet are used as a delicacy on dining tables in China where they are often an option at dim sum restaurants, served as 'phoenix talons'.

Apart from Chinese cuisine, chicken feet form an integral part in Trinidadian, Jamaican, South African, Peruvian and Philippine cuisine.

In many countries abroad the popular 'phoenix talons' are also sold as street food that are often deep fried and seasoned with mustard, vinegar, fresh green pepper and crushed garlic. This is used as a popular salad and appetizer. The edible meat on the feet consists of skin and tendons and not much muscle. It is often used for bakery purpose as well, concludes the Sify report.