Coconut Bird Nest Soup

Birds nest soup is one of the most extravagant culinary foods in Chinese culture. It has been around for 400 years and is prized for its rarity, its nutritional benefits, and for its texture to taste. Because of its delicate nature, it is recommended to pair milder ingredients with bird nest so you can taste the essence of it. I like using coconut milk with some rock sugar and a red date for sweetness to make this delicious dessert.

What is Birds Nest?

Birds nest 燕窩 is made from the saliva of a bird or “swallow.” When it’s breeding season, the male swallow finds a cave and breeds for 35 days. The swallow then produces bird saliva nest during this time. Birds nest is highly notable in Chinese culture, with nearly 90% of its consumption being in China. 

Nutrition of Birds Nest

For several hundred years birds nest is prized to be a highly nutritious delicacy. It promotes the overall immune system and is a high source of protein. Birds nest is also found to have healing properties that improves skin tissues and complexion. It is also believed to help intellectual development, especially for children. 

Conception and Pregnancy

  Birds nest soup is also known to be very nourishing, particularly women. For people that are trying to conceive, birds nest can be very beneficial for women and men to consume. It is known to help sperm development, and can nourish women prepartum.

How to Prepare Bird Nest?

Traditionally, cooking birds nest soup is best cooked with a double boiler method, in which the steam indirectly cooks your soup. This is the best way to cook the soup because (1) the birds nest is very delicate and (2) the indirect heat allows the bird’s nest to retain most of its nutritious value. Boiling the soup also works, but does diminish the nutritional value a little, but since it’s such a short period of time it won’t matter as much. 

Where to find bird nest?

Bird nest is served at higher end Chinese restaurants and can be found at premium Chinese dried foods stores. These stores usually carry the more expensive Chinese dried goods like abalone, bird nest, scallops, and herbs. 

Notes

To prepare birds nest for cooking, make sure to soak it in cold water for 3-4 hours prior to cooking. Soaking the bird nest will rehydrate and it will expand to a softer texture. Birds nest is extremely delicate, so cooking it for a long period of time will cause it to melt and lose its texture. The recommended amount for cooking the birds nest is 30-45 minutes maximum.  

Ingredients

• 3 full pieces of birds nest
• 3 cups of water
• 1 thumb size ginger
• ⅓ cup of rock sugar
• 1 cup of unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 dried red date

Directions

1. Soak bird nest in cold water for 3-4 hours
2. Cut and slice ginger (Make sure you smash the ginger to get flavor out). Cut the dried red date and take the seed out.
3. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil on medium heat. Once boiling, add in ginger, rock sugar, and date inside and close the lid. After 5 minutes, when the sugar is completely melted, taste the soup to make adjustments. 
4. After the birds nest has expanded fully, drain the excess water from the soaking water. Then, gently place the bird nests in the soup and turn down the heat to medium-low, and cook for 30 minutes. 
5. After 30 minutes, add 1 cup of coconut milk, bring to a boil, and continue to cook for another 10 minutes. Serve immediately after 10 minutes. 

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