Edible bird nests. All about China
False Swallow's Nest Soup
What we are preparing today, dear friends, can in no way be called a surrogate, although, I believe, adherents of authenticity (not to be confused with autism), reading this, will begin to throw, if not swallow's nests, then certainly strong expressions. But we will pass all this on deaf ears, guided by principles that, I think, are closer to the heart of an ordinary person: a dish should be tasty, healthy, beautiful and ... sometimes unusual for our latitudes. Of course, the famous "erotic" Chinese swallow's nest soup is best made using the nests of the sea swifts-salangans themselves - who would argue with that? But for most of us, this is inaccessible both in view of their exorbitant price, and in view, of course, of the lack of shops on the shelves. And although, as you know, there are no full-fledged replacements, we still, in the absence of other options, will choose exactly this path, taking as guidelines:
Very close to the original three-stage technology for making soup;
The taste of the dish is very close to the original, based on a mixture of bone mutton broth and seafood (salangans are used to build algae nests, fastening them with plankton and saliva)
Very close to the original composition of trace elements, including phosphorus, calcium and iodine - the main stimulants of libido.
Thus, we will miss only the saliva of swifts-salangans. Well, we will survive this annoying shortage somehow.
What you need to take to prepare 4-5 servings of soup:
For bone broth:
1. Approximately a kilogram of lamb bones, from which meat and fat are cut as much as possible.
2. A small bunch of green onions.
3. A thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger root.
For false swallow nests:
1.Pack of nori seaweed (5 plates)
2. Three to four tablespoons of halibut caviar (or any other marine fish, preferably fresh or frozen).
3. Three to four tablespoons of salmon caviar.
4. Several circles of lime.
5. Several rings of hot pepper.
6. Salt to taste.
To begin with, we clean a piece of ginger root and flatten it with some improvised kitchen tool so that the juice appears.
Now crushed ginger should be placed either under a preheated oven heater or under a microwave oven equipped with a grill, so that the juice on the surface of the ginger caramelizes, and the ginger itself is slightly baked. Then it can be placed in a pan with mutton bones, from which the meat is cut, fat and tendons (from the joints) and a bunch of green onions. Fill a saucepan almost to the brim with cold water.
The broth, without adding salt, will have to be simmered over low heat for at least three hours, carefully removing the foam from it after the first boil. Then - remove the bones, and onions, and ginger.
And strain the broth through a sieve, drain, respectively sediment. In the picture, we see that although the broth turned out to be beautiful - both amber and transparent - it is too oily: bones are bones.
Therefore, for today, cooking soup, one might say, is completed. We set aside the broth to cool, and at night we put it in the refrigerator altogether - for the fat to completely solidify. The next day, carefully and completely remove all frozen fat and set the broth to warm up.
While it is warming up, you can start making "swallow's nests". To do this, first cut each nori plate strictly in half:
Then, from the resulting strips of nori, we fold the bags. Pinch the tip of the corner of the nori with a finger moistened with water to fix the bags.
First, we fill each bag halfway with halibut (or other sea fish) caviar ...
Then - salmon caviar.
We cover the caviar with the upper corner of the bag and fix it so that the impromptu "lid" is relatively "tightly" covered. We carefully lower the caviar bags, which play the role of swallow nests, into the boiling broth, which will begin to become cloudy literally before our eyes.
At this point, the second stage of cooking the soup, one might say, is over. Putting in the broth, "swallow's nests" set it aside until the next day. During this time, the turbidity created by the caviar will settle and you can proceed to the third, final stage of cooking.
As everyone knows, China is terribly overpopulated. And this situation has persisted for centuries. As a result, China was forever starving. And with hunger you just can’t eat. So they learned in the Celestial Empire not to neglect what heaven sends. In Chinese cuisine, you can find a roast of a snake and a cat, called the "Dragon-Tiger Battle", shark fins, earthworms, chickens baked in salt, ants, mice and rats, snails, dog meat goulash, duck eggs aged for a hundred days in lime dressing.
In a word, the national cuisine has concentrated the skills of cooking everything that ran past (or crawled). Moreover, in China they eat not only animals, but also their dwellings - for example, swallow nests. Do not try to experiment with the cooking of our swallow nests - Chinese swallow nests mean something completely different.
Let's start with the fact that these are not nests of swallows, but of salangan swifts that live on the shores of the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea. The famous nests of the baby salangana are not molded from clay, but from algae, fastening them with their own saliva. As inlays, salangans generously add eggs and fry of fish there. So it turns out that swallow nests consist of completely edible products, except for accidentally stuck feathers.
There was a strong opinion that all dishes of oriental cuisine are terribly healing, downright a panacea for all misfortunes. I don't know about all other dishes, but the swallows' nests seem to justify the expectations attributed to the rumor. It is natural that swallow nests, which are actually seafood, contain a large amount of iodine. In addition, they contain phosphorus, calcium, iron and many other useful trace elements. But this is not the main thing. It is important that the combination of components that make up the swallow's nests has a surprisingly powerful cumulative effect on the human body, improves immunity, enhances defenses, and has a rejuvenating effect. Especially swallow nests are useful for children, the elderly, pregnant women, weak and sick people.
Only the list of diseases that we could get rid of by regularly consuming swallow's nests takes up several pages. Suffice it to say that they heal asthma, chronic cough, throat diseases, exhibit antitumor activity, and contribute to the treatment of certain oncological diseases. Swallow's nests improve the quality of spermatozoa, solve the problems of male infertility, in addition, they are a strong aphrodisiac and increase potency. And women like that they rejuvenate the skin and smooth out wrinkles. Therefore, swallow nests are not only eaten, but also medicines and cosmetics are made from them.
What profit can be brought by fishing for swallow nests
Delicious swallow's nests are one of the most expensive food products, their price reaches $2,000 per kilogram, which is comparable to the most expensive varieties of beluga caviar. Not so long ago, fishing for swallow nests was a very laborious and dangerous business - after all, salangans nest on sheer cliffs at the height of a 10-15-story building and desperately defend their home. However, now, in our highly technical age, they have been bred like chickens, quails or ostriches. For salangans, high multi-storey buildings are built, in which, instead of windows, narrow slots are arranged in the walls, like a notch in a beehive. Inside, numerous concrete beams are arranged under low ceilings. Salangans are happy to make nests in secluded corners between the beams and the ceiling. From there, they are periodically cut off by the workers of the salangan farm, trying to remove only those nests in which eggs have not yet been laid. Sometimes poor salangans have to build nests three times a year. Now all over the world several tons of swallow nests are mined every year. Considering that a dried salangan nest weighs about 10 g, one can imagine how much it is and what scale this business has reached. The fishery for swallow nests is constantly developing, and the hour is not far off when they will become available to any inhabitant of the planet.
How to make the famous swallow's nest soup
Swallow's nests are eaten not only in China. Swallow's nest soup is popular in India, Indonesia, and the countries of Indochina. You can also taste it here, but only in expensive restaurants in large cities. You can cook it yourself, if you manage to get (what the hell is not joking!) This very swallow's nest. How? First, the swallow's nest is poured with boiling water and left to swell for five hours, periodically replacing the cooling water with boiling water. For additional softening, swallow nests are doused with a solution of baking soda. Adhering feathers, fluff and dirt are removed from the swollen nest with tweezers. Then rinse thoroughly with cold water.
Soaked swallow's nest is poured with chicken broth so that it covers the nest, and boiled over high heat for 15 minutes. Then this chicken broth is drained and the nest is filled with a new portion of strong chicken broth. Add finely chopped raw white chicken meat, boiled ham and to taste monosodium glutamate, salt, herbs. Bring to a boil and cook over low heat for half an hour.
Bon appetit and good health!
Swifts live in caves, in the mountains or in urban areas in rooms specially equipped for caves. Until the 1990s many swifts lived in Indonesia, but constant fires led to their massive migration to a safer neighboring country - Malaysia.
The mating season for swifts begins from February to May. At this time, they secrete the largest amount of saliva, which they use to build nests. This process takes about 30-45 days. Another 3-7 days pass in anticipation of the chicks. And if a young pair of swifts feel comfortable and safe in their home, then 2 eggs will appear in their nest, which they take care of in turn. The eggs take 3-4 weeks to incubate, after which the chicks hatch and spend another 45-60 days in their nests before they can fly. Swifts have an extraordinary memory, so it is not difficult for them to find their nest among thousands of others after a long day 50 km from home. They leave their homes early in the morning at 5:30-6:30 am and arrive back at 7:15-7:30 pm. Some swifts return during the day to feed their chicks. Swifts usually live in pairs and they do not change their “life partner” until the end of their lives. They usually build their nests at night.
The consumption of bird nests has been dated to 618-907. AD during the reign of the Tang Dynasty. To date, the main consumers of bird nests are China, Taiwan, Singapore and North America. Indonesia is the world's top supplier with a supply of 250-300 tons of nests per year, while Malaysia supplies only 25 tons, but Malaysian nests are considered to be the best in terms of quality and useful composition.
Nest soup (Chinese 燕窝, pinyin yàn wō, pall. yang wō) is considered a delicacy in China, Vietnam, and Malaysia. The soup has the appearance of mucus and resembles jelly in consistency. Prepared in a water bath.
And then there are salangan farms, or edible nests, which involve the use of non-residential spaces, usually urban, to create ideal conditions for birds to fly there, make nests and lay eggs. And the resulting nests from hardened bird saliva are either simply eaten as a delicacy (with or without shearers) or used to make the world-famous bird nest soup.
In Georgetown, the capital of the Malaysian state of Penang, there is a farm with millions of salangans.
The salangan farm in Georgetown poses a significant risk to the city's health and has even led UNESCO to reconsider the city's World Heritage status.
And here is what Maria Glazunova writes
During our hitchhiking trip from Kuala Berang to Taman Negara Park, we were given a ride by a businessman who was on his way to Kuatan to have his car repaired.
He spoke with joy and enthusiasm about his business, and we asked him with such interest that he offered to stop by and see everything with his own eyes. We had free time in reserve, so we gladly agreed.
His business is growing bird nests. In Russia they are called "swallow's nests", but in reality the birds are called salangans (swiftlets) - this is a kind of swifts that live in southern Asia, they are quite small in size, slightly larger than an ordinary sparrow and look a bit like swallows.
The nesting business is one of the most highly profitable areas in global agriculture. Malaysia is one of those countries where swifts live in large numbers, which means that there are all conditions for doing such a business.
Despite the fact that Malaysia supplies only 10% of the nests to the world market, it is the Malaysian ones that are considered the best in quality and are called “white gold” here - the cost is up to $ 3,000 per 1 kilogram, and they are incredibly popular in the Chinese market.
The nests of salangans consist of practically only saliva, without any impurities or plant inclusions. It is for this that these birds are valued - their nests are a delicious delicacy in Chinese cuisine. The most popular dish is "swallow's nest soup", which is a gelatinous stew with a specific taste.
Of the more than 20 existing species of salangans, only a few produce nests that are edible. The bulk of the nests sold in the world belong to two types: "light-nested" and "dark-nested" salangans. The first builds a bowl-like nest, including layers of salivary secretions with a few feathers between them (it looks light); the nest of the second contains many feathers held together by saliva, therefore it appears dark and has a fleecy structure.
The high price of the delicacy is explained by the great risk for hunters of this prey. In the wild, Salangans nest in caves, the bird knows how to navigate well in the dark and makes nests in hard-to-reach places, which is the main difficulty for miners - you need to be a good rock climber.
Nests are collected 3-4 times a year.
The first time they are cut in early spring, before the swifts lay their eggs. The first nests are pristine white. Returning to the cave, the swifts look for their nests and, not finding them, begin to build new ones. They are in a hurry, because the season of laying eggs has come, and there is nowhere to lay them.
The second nests are pink, it is believed that the birds are not able to produce enough saliva for the second time, and therefore it is obtained with an admixture of blood, due to which the pink color is obtained - gourmets value them more than white ones.
The third time, red-brown nests are obtained. If you cut off absolutely all the nests, then in a few years there will be no swifts left in this area at all. Salangans never use the same nest twice, and for each new clutch of eggs they build new ones.
Work on the construction of the nest takes about a month. Due to the gastronomic addiction to the delicacy, a huge number of chicks die. It was the high cost of "raw materials" and the frenzied demand in Chinese cuisine that led farmers in Southeast Asia to learn how to tame swifts.
Moreover, "swift" farms mainly appear outside the main place of consumption of nests - China. They are distributed in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. It turns out that under Mao Zedong, this bird and the soup from its nests were declared “bourgeois excess”, and the population of salangans was exterminated by 95% in the 1970s. Today, in southern China, the number of these swifts is only half the previous level before extermination.
The ability of swifts to navigate in the dark and live in caves was the main obstacle to the cultivation of nests until one Indonesian from the island of Java, in the 70s, went to Mecca for several months, and upon his return found that his empty dwelling was inhabited swifts-salangans.
For 3 years he researched how to attract birds to an artificial structure - he experimented with the size of the room, the material of the walls and ceiling, humidity, temperature and light. He was the first to be able to record on a cassette the singing of birds, which attracted them to an artificial dwelling. All his finds are still successfully used on many farms to this day.
The farm that we visited is located on the territory of a palm plantation, the entry of outsiders is strictly prohibited there - there is a barrier and a guard post. The palm plantation is huge, they move around it in such jeeps 
So we changed the sports car to an SUV and drove off
Around the groves of mature palm trees, warehouses, as well as very young palm trees
In the very depths of the plantation, an unremarkable concrete structure, it is this that serves as a haven for salangans 
There are no windows in the room, complete darkness reigns and a constant temperature of 27-29 degrees is maintained at a humidity of 80-90%, using special devices
To attract birds, sound equipment is used, with various musical tracks. Some of them are designed to attract swifts to the house, while others are designed to create a "cozy atmosphere" inside
In addition, the speakers are placed on the far approaches to the house to hint to the birds in which direction they need to move. 
To maintain the necessary smell in the room, specially imported bird droppings - guano - are used.
Salangans make their nests under the ceiling 
On average, 1 kg of raw material is obtained from 110-120 raw nests. One such concrete building produces from 15 to 25 kg of nests during the year. The wholesale price for them is about $1,200 per 1 kilogram (and in Hong Kong they are already sold from $2.5 thousand to $3 thousand, so resellers have a profit of 100% and more). And a farmer receives $18-30 thousand for a year of breeding, which is very good, considering that the average earnings of farmers in other areas are $3-4 thousand a year.
The undeniable advantage of this industry is that, in addition to the start-up capital, labor and material costs are minimal: the birds feed on their own, they almost do not need to be cared for - only occasionally remove the droppings, which again can be used as fertilizer in the fields. This industry is also good because it allows you to keep birds even in cities and 20% of bird nests are “produced” in urban areas.
Interesting Facts:
- The total gross harvest of tasty "raw materials" is 300-350 tons per year;
- On the whole, experts estimate the world market for this "agricultural raw material" at $600-650 million a year;
- Several hundred tons of "swallow nests" are consumed annually in the world, despite the fact that the dried nest weighs no more than 10 g.
- 50% of bird's nest consumption is in Hong Kong, 8% in China, 6% in Taiwan, 4% in Macau.
In China, the soup can be tasted in expensive restaurants specializing in Imperial cuisine, and in the south, in the province of Guangdong, where this culinary masterpiece was invented. In Hong Kong or Shanghai, a bowl of this soup costs between $30 and $100.
There is a beautiful legend about the origin of this dish.
In the 13th century, when the army of Genghis Khan attacked China, the emperor of the Jin dynasty suffered one defeat after another and was driven by enemies to a rocky island. The emperor could not stand the shame, jumped from a cliff into the sea and crashed, and the remnants of the army survived by feeding on the nests of birds that settled on these rocks.
The soup is credited with extraordinary healing properties - the return of youth, the extension of life, the increase in male potency, the cure for asthma, and the glycoprotein found in the nests, which dissolves in water, stimulates cell division in the human immune system, based on this element, scientists are trying to invent a cure for AIDS and others. dangerous viruses. The soup is also very nutritious as it more than 50% of the content of bird saliva is protein.
If you are suddenly going to China or Hong Kong and the restaurant price will scare you away, you can buy separate nests and cook the soup yourself, the delicacy is usually sold in expensive and elegant packaging. And if you really want to try it, but a trip to China is not planned in the near future, you can even buy nests on the Internet, for example, through the popular Chinese website Alibaba.
Here is the recipe for you: the swallow's nest is poured with boiling water and kept in hot water for 5-6 hours, the cooling water is constantly replaced with hot water, as a result, the nest swells and becomes soft. After that, fluff, dirt and other inclusions are pulled out of it with tweezers. The finished nest is doused with an alkali solution, and then thoroughly washed with cold water. There are several variations of serving the dish on the table, but as a rule, such a nest is served with strong chicken broth with spices, or stuffed chicken with it.
According to scientific research from the University of Hong Kong, the Japanese Shizuoka University and a group of experts from China, bird nests have a beneficial effect on overall human health. Bird nests have been proven to have the following therapeutic properties:
- The bird's nest improves the color and condition of the skin, reduces the number of wrinkles and prevents their formation for a long time, rejuvenates and nourishes the skin.
- Helps with respiratory diseases, bronchial asthma, stops pathological changes in the lungs.
- Helps to increase male strength, treats impotence.
- Useful for pregnant and lactating women, contributes to the mental development of the child.
- It helps to normalize the work of the heart, improves blood circulation and stabilizes blood pressure.
- Increases immunity, helps with general weakness of the body, promotes faster recovery of the body after illnesses and surgical operations.
- It is recommended to use bird's nest in diseases of the digestive system, kidneys, cirrhosis of the liver, in the treatment of hepatitis B. It has a persistent antitumor effect in cancer of the esophagus, larynx and intestines. It can also be used to prevent the above diseases.
- Indicated in the treatment of complications after radiation and chemotherapy (dryness and inflammation of the throat, constipation, nausea, etc.)
- Modern research from the University of Hong Kong also provides evidence that the bird's nest gives positive results in the complex treatment of lung cancer and AIDS.
Contraindications are not known, but individual intolerance is possible.
The biochemical composition was studied in detail by Taiwanese researchers, and the results were recorded using HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) and GC-MS (Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrophotometer) preparations.
According to the above studies, the main component of the bird's nest is glycoprotein - a biomolecule consisting of protein and carbohydrate. That is, the bird's nest is 50% protein, and 30% carbohydrates. Glycoproteins are important for the functioning of the cells of the immune system. In addition, 5% of bird nests are iron, 3% are other minerals, and 1.4% are fiber. The composition of the bird's nest also found 17 important amino acids.
Amino acids
The content of the bird's nest in 100g
Calories (kcal.) 281 Protein (g.) 37.5 Fat (g.) 0.3 Carbohydrates (g.) 32.1 Calcium (mg.) 485 Phosphorus (mg.) 18 Iron (mg.) 3 Water ( gr.) 24.5
Bird's Nest, according to research from the University of Hong Kong, contains a hormone that stimulates cell division and has epidermal growth factor, which stimulates tissue growth, cell regeneration and cellular immunity in the human body. Dermatologists in the US Stanley Cohen and Rita Levi-Montalcini recognized that epidermal growth factor is one of the most important components of the epidermis, stimulating cell growth and being one of the most effective skin care products.
Due to its unique composition, the bird's nest is easily and completely absorbed by the human body. According to scientists, an edible bird's nest is an invaluable product used in the prevention and treatment of many diseases. In their experiments and practical experience, the positive effects of using a bird's nest in regenerating human cells, stimulating the immune system, treating bronchial, digestive and cardiac diseases, healing postoperative sutures, etc. have been proven. The high value of bird's nests in Eastern medical practice explains its popularity in Hong Kong , China, Japan, Singapore and the USA, despite the high cost of the product. http://www.life-in-travels.ru/2012/09/swiftlets-nests.html#ixzz318j7RYmz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%8A%D0%B5%D0...%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B4%D0%B0
taken
All the best and always! Swallow's nests, sandalwood and amber are the three pillars that traditionally distinguish shopping for Asian (for example, Chinese) tourists in Vietnam from Russian shopping. There is also latex, but our tourists, who have mastered Thailand before Vietnam, are slowly taking it, so it doesn’t count. But swallow nests ... 100 grams of this miracle of nature in Nha Trang cost from 4.5 to more than 7 million dong (and this is not the limit), which at the rate at the time of the creation of the article is approximately from 12.6 to more than 19.6 thousand domestic rubles (and we have an article about it).
What is the value of swallow nests, and what they eat (literally) tried to figure out. That's what came out of it. 😉
Background: on the attitude towards swallow nests in Asia
In fact, we heard about the value of swallow nests in 2013 when we visited Thailand. As part of an excursion to the Phi Phi Islands, which are not unknown to domestic tourists, the guide told that swallow nests are harvested in Thailand, because the soup from them is considered a very valuable dietary product that promotes longevity, silky hair, strength of teeth and nails, smooth skin and the manifestation of other signs of a healthy , happy and (we add from ourselves) a rich person. 😉
Arriving in Vietnam first as tourists, and then for wintering, we were convinced that swallow nests are valued not only in Thailand, but throughout Southeast Asia, judging by the number of showrooms in Nha Trang selling this product, and the number of Asian-looking tourists, this product buyers.
Note that there are a lot of products that include swallow nests (according to the composition indicated on the packaging 😉) in Vietnam: drinking water, sweet drinks, instant cereals for children, and various cosmetics (Vietnamese, and Thai, and Korean). Much is sold in ordinary stores and even on street stalls, the prices are different, but usually quite affordable. However, the content of swallow nests in such products starts from thousandths of a percent and, as far as we have seen, does not exceed 10% (we are talking about what is eaten).
The “crowning” of this entire product line is swallow nest soup, which is not available in canned form in stores (or we just didn’t come across it). You can make it at home by buying a swallow's nest and finding the recipe on the Vietnamese internet. It is on the menu of some restaurants. And we, without further ado, went for this “soup for longevity and health” to the showroom of the Vietnamese company Yen Sao Khanh Hoa, which specializes in products from swallow nests, which are mined here, in the province of Khanh Hoa. And maybe not only here, but there is an Island of Swallows near Nha Trang, and tourists are taken there.
What is useful soup from swallow nests. And is it useful?
There are a lot of articles on the Vietnamese Internet on the benefits of swallow nests for human health. If you believe them, it turns out that this product should be consumed by children aged 1 year (mostly from 3 years) to 10 years, pregnant and lactating women, the elderly, as well as people subject to mental and physical stress - in general, with rare exceptions, to all modern humanity.
There are several types of nests on the market: the most common and relatively cheap are white, the rarest and most expensive are orange, even red. And, it seems, black is at a premium, but in some articles they are mentioned, in others they are not, so God bless them. The "technically" positive effect of nests on the human body is defined as follows (translated from this site in Vietnamese):
- swallow nests contain 18 amino acids, including essential ones (serine, tyrosine, asparagine, phenylalanine, arginine, leucine, valine…);
- they also contain about 8.6% Sialac (we did not find a definition for this term, perhaps some kind of silicon compound was meant ... or just a typo) and tyrosine (mentioned again), which eliminate cell damage caused by radiation, and also stimulate erythrocyte growth;
- they have a high content of Ca and Fe, as well as Mn, Br, Cu, Zn, which helps to calm the nerves, improve memory;
- they contain rare elements such as Cr, Se, which significantly stimulate digestion and slow down the aging process, despite the low concentration.
In general, as far as we can judge, the value of the swallow's nest is that it contains the amino acids necessary for health, macro- and microelements in a fairly concentrated and easily digestible form. Like a swallow, which is actually a salangane (salangane, a kind of swift), has accumulated all these treasures in its saliva, from which it makes nests (sometimes with impurities of feathers, grains of sand, etc.) - a question left behind the scenes for us. Whether the matter is in the special processes occurring in the body of the salangans, or in their proper nutrition (not fast food) and adherence to the daily routine (this is such a thing when you live in accordance with the "biological clock", and not with the schedule of football matches or series " Game of Thrones" 😉).
However, there is another point of view reflected in Vietnamese Wikipedia. There is an opinion that the content of nutrients in the nest is overestimated, and its basis, in fact, is water, salt, some enzymes and, possibly, microorganisms. And that the price of a nest is determined by the complexity of its “acquisition” (nest pickers do this by hand, moving through bamboo “forests” several meters high) and the perception of consumers, and not at all by nutritional and medical value. There is also concern that the active consumption of nests leads to a reduction in the population of the newcomers.
Going to the showroom of the Yen Sao Khanh Hoa company, we did not know all this. It’s just that swallow’s nest soup has long interested us, we wanted to try an outlandish thing, the basis of which is bought up by Chinese (by appearance) tourists suitcases. In general, surprisingly, in addition to China, this product is also actively used in North America. The main suppliers (so far) are Indonesia and Malaysia. The Vietnamese themselves are happy to drink drinks with the addition of swallow nests (we will modestly keep silent about their concentration in those drinks, something about 0.002% according to our calculations), and during the period the showroom was full of locals every evening, drinking “magic” soup.
How We Tasted Swallow's Nest Soup at Yen Sao Khanh Hoa Showroom
There are many Yen Sao Khanh Hoa showrooms in Nha Trang, but the soup is prepared in the one on the third line at 15A Hoàng Hoa Thám (there is one nearby, we mentioned it in the article about Nha Trang food stalls).
The institution looks very decent: bright, with full-wall windows, with employees in blue aozai (this is the national Vietnamese outfit), with chefs (or rather, cooks) in caps, with chic porcelain dishes that seem translucent to the light. The employees do not speak English very well, or there was simply not an English-speaking shift when we arrived. But the menu is in English with pictures, so everything is in order.
Employees of the Yen Sao Khanh Hoa showroom: a girl in a blue aozai who greets guests and takes orders, a chef in a cap While the point is, you can watch not only the process of preparing the soup itself (the chefs do their work behind transparent glass), but also the process of preparing swallow nests. The work, to be honest, is jewelry: cute girls with tweezers first select feathers of different sizes from the nests, and then it comes to grains of sand!
And the soup, or rather nests for it, is prepared in special steam rooms ... double boilers ... In general, in special devices. At home, you can cook in the usual "water bath".
There are several types of soup on the menu: from chicken to "soup with five fruits", each added Salangane's Nest (salangane nests). Everything is simple with prices: a small cup is 150 thousand dong, a large one is 300 thousand dong, regardless of the type of soup. We took small, but different ones: Tonya with five fruits, and Zhenya with a shark fin. The composition of the fruit soup included lychee, "seed" of the lotus, "red apple", "black apple" and something else. As for the fish soup, we don’t know where that shark with that fin was caught: in the waters of Nha Trang, according to stories, only small reef sharks are found, and then far from the coast, which tourists are only happy about.
Swallow's Nest Soup: Above, shark's fin and five fruit soups; bottom - soup with five fruits close-up What does swallow's nest soup taste like? If you took a soup with five fruits, it means the taste of fruits. If you took shark fin soup, it means the taste of fish. We suspect that if we took chicken soup, it would taste like chicken. That is, the nests themselves, at least those that were in our cups, are tasteless. And this is perhaps for the best. 😉 And the consistency of the cooked nests is jelly. See video for details.
A more budgetary version of the dish with a swallow's nest, at 100,000 dong per serving, can be found on the fourth line, in an establishment offering takeaway Vietnamese national chao porridge (cháo). This is a liquid rice porridge with various additives, from fruits and vegetables to meat and seafood (in Vietnamese cafes with a menu adapted for Russian tourists, this dish is often called “rice soup”). The establishment is called Cháo Dinh Dưỡng Dôri, located at 8B Tô Hiến Thành, the bright yellow sign is easy to spot. Landmark: there is a small one nearby, which was written about in an article about food in Nha Trang. We do not undertake to judge the serving size and taste, because. We ourselves did not try porridge with swallow's nest in Dori.
Swallow's nest soup recipe
Last winter, our neighbor Tanya, in one of her conversations on general topics, quoted a brilliant definition of French cuisine: “French cuisine is when you fry meat for 15 minutes, and then sweat over the sauce for it for 2 hours.” 😉 We cannot vouch for the 100% accuracy of the quote, but the meaning is something like this. Actually, the story is similar with swallow nests: most of the recipes we found on the Vietnamese Internet describe in detail how to cook delicious chicken soup, or crab soup, or soup from something else, and then something appears in one of the final paragraphs of the recipe like: "... add a peeled swallow's nest and cook the soup until it is ready (20 - 30 minutes)."
The generalized cooking technology looks something like this:
- Soak the swallow's nest in water for 10 minutes;
- Clean up debris (this is probably what the girls with tweezers did in the showroom);
- Further, the recipes diverge: somewhere they write that you need to cook the nest in a water bath along with the rest of the ingredients (usually this applies to fruit soup, the “remaining ingredients” are dried fruits pre-treated with boiling water) for about 20-30 minutes, and somewhere it is proposed to add prepared nest in soup (usually crab or chicken) and cook over low heat for the same 20-30 minutes, until the nest “disperses” and a “characteristic aroma” appears.
- As for the proportions, somewhere 3-5 grams of dry nests are mentioned for 1-2 servings of soup with fruits (the volume of water is at the discretion of the cook), somewhere it is said about 5-6 swallow nests (in pieces) and two "fleshy » crabs per pot of soup (the exact amount of water, again, is not specified). ,
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"Swallow's Nest Soup"
One of the most expensive Chinese dishes is swallow's nest soup. In fact, the famous delicacy is prepared from the nests of swifts-salangans that live in the rocks on the shores of the South China Sea. These birds build their nests out of seaweed, which are held together with saliva. Salangan nests are rich in protein, iodine, phosphorus, calcium and other useful microelements. It is also believed that this dish is able to rejuvenate the skin of the face and is a powerful aphrodisiac.
The exorbitant prices for this exotic dish are quite justified, because getting the ingredients is not so easy, and the work of a bird's nest picker can be called truly extreme. Salangans build their nests at considerable heights, and you can get to them only by going down the rock in the gorge. The work of hunters for "white gold" is more dangerous than that of rock climbers, because they work without any insurance, and their life and earnings depend on dexterity and skill.
Cooking soup requires special skill. To begin with, the nests are cleaned with tweezers from fluff, feathers, lumps of dirt and other unnecessary elements. For further preparation, they should swell well, so they are first doused with a solution of baking soda, and then placed in a hot liquid for about five hours, while periodically changing the cooled water to boiling water. Next, swallow nests are boiled in chicken broth, well seasoned with ginger and various oriental spices, until a jelly-like transparent mass of yellowish color with a pleasant taste.
According to one of the legends, for the first time the Chinese tried the nests of swifts, fleeing from the persecution of the army of Genghis Khan. Chinese soldiers, driven by the Mongols to the island, where there was practically nothing to eat, tried to boil bird nests from hunger. It turned out that they are not only tasty, but also nutritious. Thanks to this diet, the warriors were able to fight and repulse the enemy.
Health
Many of us love to eat a bowl of delicious steaming soup for lunch that will satisfy our hunger. Soups are hearty and healthy meals that are made with what you have in your fridge. Maybe you have a bat lying around in your refrigerator or a tiger penis?
There are soups in the world that are completely different from those that you are used to cooking. Most of them came to us from such an unusual Asian cuisine for Europeans.
Find out about the most unusual first courses from around the world, some of which may shock you.
1) Menudo (Mexico)
While the ingredients in this soup may not come as a surprise to some of you, not all people would be willing to try beef stomach. Menudo is a traditional Mexican soup that is very popular in Mexico and is often prepared on special occasions. The dish is also widely known as a hangover cure.
Menudo is made from the stomachs of a cow with the addition of onion, cilantro, oregano, chili and corn. It takes 7 to 10 hours to cook it, as the stomach is cooked for a very long time so that it becomes soft and tender. Some may wonder, can the stomach really taste good? But if you add all the other ingredients to it and let it simmer on low heat for a couple of hours, the result will be simply incredible.
The stomach becomes so tender that it melts in the mouth, add more corn tortillas that can be dipped into the soup and you have a wonderful dinner. Little is known about the origin of this soup, but one can guess that in Mexico, when a bull was slaughtered, they wanted to use all parts of the carcass for cooking, including the stomachs. You can find this dish in many Mexican restaurants.
2) Kiburu (Tanzania)
This is probably the easiest soup on the list, and is made by the Chagga tribe, who live at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro in East Africa. This tribe survives on agriculture and pays most attention to the cultivation of bananas and coffee.
The tribe leads a simple lifestyle, and therefore prepares simple dishes: kiburu soup is made from sweet bananas, legumes and ... dirt. All ingredients are mixed with water to make a soup, and tree branches can also be added here. The mud makes the soup salty and gives it an "earthy" taste.
3) Supu (Tanzania)
This soup is somewhat reminiscent of the Mexican menudo soup, as different animal parts are used to make it. Supu, as the name implies, translates as "soup".
The Tanzanian version of this dish is prepared for breakfast, it is the most unusual and is made from the lungs, heart, liver, head of a goat and stomach of a cow, sometimes from the entrails and tongue. Sometimes the soup is made on the basis of hooves, then it is called "supu ya makongoro". This dish is traditionally loved for breakfast in Tanzania and is also a hangover cure.
4) Cock testicle soup
This soup is very similar to our chicken noodle soup, except that it is made from rooster testicles instead of chicken meat. Eggs and vegetables are boiled until tender. The testicles have a creamy texture inside, they are very soft, somewhat reminiscent of tofu, but with a hard skin, like sausages.
Some compare them to boiled eggs that taste like custard. The testicles have been found to have good side effects, such as being good for the skin of women and increasing potency in men.
5) Bird's Nest Soup (China)
One of the most expensive soups on this list is bird's nest soup, which is made from salangana nests. This Chinese soup is a real delicacy and can be enjoyed in some restaurants for $30-100 a serving. A kilogram of bird nests costs about 2 thousand dollars.
This soup is actually made from the sticky bird saliva that birds make up most of their nests from. The nest dissolves in water, the soup is somewhat reminiscent of jelly. These nests have been cooked in China since ancient times, mainly in the form of soups.
Salangans build their nests in caves, and this is done by male birds. It takes about 35 days to build one nest. Birds weave threads from their saliva into the shape of a bowl. It is said that the dish has a positive effect on human health, in particular, it helps to treat asthma, increases libido, strengthens the immune system.
6) Deer placenta soup (China)
In the city of Shanghai, China, you can try deer placenta soup, which can bring health benefits: increase sexual strength, cure kidneys, improve skin condition and increase vitality. Mushrooms, flowers, chicken are added to this soup, but the main ingredient is deer placenta, which is quite elastic and chews for a long time.
The placenta is the sac-like organ of the female body that attaches the embryo to the mother's uterus during pregnancy in most mammals. Blood flows from the mother's body to the embryo through the placenta, which provides it with oxygen and nutrients, and also helps to remove by-products. After the baby is born, the placenta leaves the mother's body.
7) Cod milk soup (Japan)
This soup is made from codfish milk and is very popular in Japan, where it is called shirako soup. Milk is a bag of fish sperm that is boiled in water until a stew with a creamy consistency, almost like custard, is obtained.
"Shirako" translated means "white kids". The dish is prepared mainly in winter, it is believed that it can increase potency if eaten in a certain amount. Some oriental restaurants prepare this dish as something special to surprise customers.
8) Bat Soup (Palau Islands)
This soup might not be so terrible if its main ingredient (bats) were at least de-furred. On the islands of Palau in the Pacific Ocean, apparently, there is a shortage of edible animals, so the locals do not disdain bats. The islands are inhabited by several species of bats, those that eat insects and those that eat fruits.
The latter are boiled in coconut milk with ginger and other spices for several hours. In some restaurants, you can even choose a male or female before the poor mouse is thrown alive into boiling water. Many gourmets who have decided to try this masterpiece of culinary art claim that it is magnificent, however, if you do not pay attention to the hairy head sticking out of the plate.
9) Tiger Penis Soup (China)
There are many soups made from animal genitals, but this soup is the rarest and most expensive of all. No wonder, because for its preparation you need to kill at least one tiger, which in China is punishable by death.
Tiger penis soup has been a specialty of Asian cuisine for centuries (probably why there are so few tigers there today), since tiger penis is believed by Asians to have the mystical properties of Viagra!
The dried penis of a poor cat is soaked in water for a week, and then simmered for a whole day with spices and medicines, sometimes along with tiger bones. One serving of this soup can cost $400. Despite the fact that tigers are being protected in every possible way, parts of their body still seep into the markets, but most of the products that are sold under the guise of tiger penises are actually deer or bull tendons.
10) Blood Soup (Vietnam)
And finally, the strangest soup on our list, which the tongue does not dare to call soup. It is a traditional Vietnamese dish made from raw blood (usually goose blood), bird giblets, peanuts, and herbs.
This soup is frozen and the blood thickens and is eaten chilled before the blood loses its jelly-like consistency. Supposedly, the soup gives strength not only to the one who eats it, but also to the one who prepares it. The soup fell out of favor after the bird flu swept through Asia. And yet, many Asians continue to eat it without fear of infection.
+ Bonus: Soup #5
Soup number 5 also makes the list of the strangest soups on the planet. It is prepared in some parts of Southeast Asia and consists of onions, carrots, meat broth, penis and testicles of a bull. This soup has gained popularity also due to its aphrodisiac properties.
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