Bird's nest soup

In an attempt to eat like some wealthy people do, I acquired a couple receipts from the internet for “birds nest soup”.

The first one is kind of a desert.

Ingredients :

2 ounces bird’s nest

6 tablespoons rock sugar, crushed

2 cups water

Method :

Soak the bird's nest in cold water overnight, rinse well. Remove any loose feathers or dirt from the bird's nest. Fill up a pot with water and bring to the boil. Add in the bird's nest and simmer for about 5 minutes. Rinse well and squeeze dry. Place the bird's nest in the pot with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the nest is soft and tender. Stir in the rock sugar until completely dissolve. Serve the sweet delicacies hot.

The second is more a normal soup.

Authentic bird's nest soup is made using the nests of the Swiftlet, a tiny bird found throughout Southeast Asia.

Many westerners think it tastes quite rubbery the first time they try it. However it is quite popular throughout Asia, perhaps because it has the reputation of being an aphrodisiac. It is also costly.

I did not like the ingredients so I delegated them.

                   Preparation:  Soak bird’s nest in cold water overnight. Drain and rinse. Spread softened nest    pieces on plate; pick out prominent pieces of “foreign” matter (e.g. feathers, twigs) with tweezers. Debone chicken breast, remove membrane and muscle fiber, pound meat with cleaver handle to break down tissue, mince chicken until it is pulp. Make medium thick paste with cornstarch and chicken stock.

                   Cooking:  Bring rich chicken stock for soup to boil. Immediately add bird’s nest; simmer 30 minutes. Mix dry sherry and remaining stock; dribble slowly into minced chicken. Lightly beat egg whites with a fork; fold gently into chicken so they are not completely   blended. Add salt to soup. Bring soup back to boil and add chicken mixture slowly so soup does not cool. When soup returns to boil, it is ready to serve. You can hold it at this point on low heat. Pour into serving bowl, garnish with green onions and ham.

I gave up on making Bird’s Nest Soup. When I went to get the birds nest the birds flew around my head and made a lot of noise. I thought about taking the eggs from the nest but did not know how long they had been in the nest so it is possible they had baby bird in the eggs.

                   Needless to say I am still hungry; I will just wait until Donna (who doesn’t want her name mentioned in these notes) cooks supper.

Joke

From the hungry mind of               Don Ford   

              

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