Chinese Bird’s Nest Soup Recipe

Birds’ nests are prized in Chinese culture, so this Bird’s Nest Soup is for special occasions when you really want to impress! Follow this recipe for a soup that’s fit for royalty.

Why This Bird’s Nest Soup Is So Good
A Chinese delicacy that’s steeped in history
Impress guests with this decadent soup.
Easy to make.
Ingredients
Dried red dates
Rock sugar
Bird’s nest
Water

How To Make This Bird’s Nest Soup – Step By Step
Soak the bird’s nest overnight in cool water.

The nest should be clean of all impurities.

If you happen to get bird’s nest that contains impurities, it’s best to clean the nest one more time. Bring a pot of water to a boil, and boil the bird’s nest for 10 minutes, then drain and rinse with cool water.

But since this bird’s nest is so clean, all we needed to do was soak overnight and drain.

Bring a pot with 6 cups of water to a low simmer. Add in the drained bird’s nest and jujubes.

Keep the heat on low – you don’t want a hard, rolling boil (which would break the delicate bird’s nest). Aim for the smallest bubbles possible.

Cook for 30 minutes – 2 hours. The timing really depends on the quality of the bird’s nest that you have. For Golden Nest’s products, it only took 30 minutes of cooking to get a gelatinous texture. If you over-cook the bird’s nest, it will become gummy and break apart, ruining the very expensive delicacy!

Taste the bird’s nest – it should be soft, gelatinous, slippery-like.

Add in 4 medium chunks of rock sugar. You can turn off the heat and just let the sugar slowly dissolve. Taste and add additional sugar if you’d like. The flavor should be delicately sweet.

Serve warm.

 

Chinese Bird’s Nest Soup Delicacy: Facts, Benefits, Price & Recipe

If you’ve ever come across any mention of the famed Chinese Delicacy Bird’s Nest Soup you’ve probably heard all kinds of good things about it. It’s good for infants, prevents you from falling sick, excellent for pregnant women, (is this the elixir to immortality?!)…..the list goes on!

Bird’s Nest Soup is made out of the nest of a swiftlet bird, which is formed with the bird’s saliva. The nest is steamed with water and rock sugar for a couple of hours.

A History of Bird’s Nest Soup
This notorious soup has been a part of Chinese cuisine for centuries. In fact, it was during the Ming Dynasty that Chinese people first began to consume bird’s nest soup.

There are different grades of bird’s nest – white, yellow, and white. The red bird’s nest was historically known in Chinese as the “blood-red bird’s nest”. It was also considered the rarest. Myths say that the red bird’s nest is made of the swiftlet’s blood, but this has been proven to be false. The actual reason for the bird’s nest turning red is because of the bird’s diet, which consists of different kinds of nutrients and minerals.

It was historically only imperial nobility who had a chance to dine on the unique broth of bird’s nest soup. It is believed that the Chinese explorer Zhen was the first person in history to have eaten the bird’s nest. Whatever the past of this dish may be, we’re grateful the delicious recipe was set in motion!

Bird’s Nest Soup Health Benefits



Bird’s Nest Soup isn’t just delicious, it’s also full of valuable nutrition for your body. Pregnant women who’ve consumed the dish during pregnancy are known to deliver healthier babies, heal quicker after delivery, and experience lesser loss of hair.

Traditional Chinese Medicine also stipulates that bird’s nests can help treat internal organs like the stomach, heart and lungs. Heavy smokers with periodic sputum stains can also consume high quality bird’s nests to heal faster. Moreover, it can also be used to counter the symptoms of sore throat, tiredness, etc. It’s a win-win for all!

The main health benefits of bird’s nest soup are:
Skin health and repair
Easy to digest (helping to absorb nutrients)
Postnatal health supplement
Reduces fatigue
Enhances nerve functions
Increases immunity
Anti-aging supplement
Restores damaged cells and stimulates new cell growth
Increases the number of red blood cells


So when we described bird’s nest soup as the ‘elixir to immortality’, it wasn’t a joke! The gelatinous texture of the nest is actually said to help in collagen generation in the body and is subsequently very good for maintaining youth.

Some studies have also shown that this delicacy is rich in epidermal growth factor (EGF), which plays an integral part in tissue and skin repair. The other magic ingredient in the soup is the “nutri-collagen,” which also helps in collagen generation.

All that said, it’s important to keep in mind that if you really want to reap the benefits of bird’s nest soup, you’ll have to consume it regularly.

Having a mere bowl of the soup once a month won’t make you look youthful or bring any health benefits. Instead, you must have a regular diet of at least 10g of the soup in order for it to work its magic.

How Much Does Bird’s Nest Soup Cost?



Yes, there’s a lot of benefits to eating Bird’s Nest Soup, but it’s not without a hefty price tag. The main ingredient, birds nest, can cost upto $2,000 to $10,000 per kg. A single bowl of soup can hence cost as much as $100! Moreover, the increase in demand has caused even more of a surge in the prices and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

Controversy
The price tag aside the Bird’s Nest Soup has come under fire many times because of the fact that this exotic delicacy is made from the nests of Swiftlets.

In places like Thailand and Malaysia, people have began farming the swiftlets to collect their nests. These farms make use of empty houses as swiftlet’s homes. Now, swiftlets are already an endangered species. So the more nests that are consumed, the closer they head towards going extinct.

In fact, these beds are particularly endangered in areas like Nicobar Islands and the Andaman. There are also places like Hainan and Dazhou Island, where the local government has banned harvesting bird’s nests!