Chicken feet soup

This is a fav of our family back in Singapore. Chicken feet is considered a delicacy for it's collagen properties that helps maintain a youthful vibrant look for many women in Asia. Even if you do not eat chicken feet the soup is really wholesome and restorative. You could also use other parts of the chicken to make this soup but it would not taste the same, nor serves its purpose.

Ingredients

400 g	Chicken feet, trim away tips/nails (Main)
100 g	Peanuts, use raw peanuts
8	Dates, red, pitted, optional
5	Garlic cloves, peeled
2 ½ Ltr	Water
0 pinches	Salt
0 pinches	Pepper, optional

Directions

1. Peel away any outer yellow skin on the chicken feet.
2. Chop off and discard the tips of the claws (nails). I usually just use a pair of kitchen scissors to do this.
3. Blanch chicken feet in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes. This minimizes the smell of raw meat and reduces the brown scum that often happens with boiling meat. Alternatively one could rub the feet and bones with salt. Rinse and drain.
4. In a large soup pot, add all ingredients except the seasoning.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer (with a slight ventilation opening on the lid) for about 2 hours.
6. Season to taste with salt.