Birds Spit Soup

A bowl of Birds Spit Soup (冰糖燕窝) is a prized (or should I say pricey) Chinese delicacy. Birds Spit Soups (swallow’s salivia nests) are expensive due to the difficulty in harvesting. Its drink is said to do wonders for skin, throat and lungs, as well as boosting overall health and well-being.

Introduction:

Lots of Asian celebrities consume this daily to look beautiful! When cooked, the Birds Spit Soup takes on a gelatin texture, making it a lovely tong shui (“sweet soup”; Chinese dessert). Whenever my mum makes Birds Spit Soup’s soup in the past, she stew it the simplest way possible (as with all my mum’s recipes) – just Birds Spit Soup, water and rock sugar. When I cooked mine, I added a few ginseng slices though it is purely optional. Check out my mum’s tips below for making a homely bowl of double-boiled Birds Spit Soup.

Birds Spit Soup

Mum’s Tips for Home-Stewed Birds Spit Soup

1. Rather than weighing the Birds Spit Soup, we go by pieces per person. For two persons, my mum used 2 small pieces or 1 large piece. This equates to about 5-8 grams per person. We use 1 rice bowl of water per person.
2. Although red dates are a common addition in Birds Spit Soup, my family omitted them. According to my mother, the cheap red dates will act like a sponge which absorb the goodness of the Birds Spit Soup (though it’s not so bad if you eat the red dates).
3. My family prefer to enjoy Birds Spit Soup in the purest way – just Birds Spit Soup, water and rock sugar. If I cook it, I sometimes add American ginseng slices. If you find ginseng bitter or intend to consume at night (it improves alertness/提神), omit it.
4. Don’t fuss over prepping the Birds Spit Soup, because the ones sold nowadays are usually very clean. We simply soak the Birds Spit Soup pieces in cold water for about 1/2 to 1 hr until softened, but not so long that the Birds Spit Soup disintegrates into small bits. If there are any impurities such as debris and feathers, pluck them out using kitchen tweezer, drain and they are ready for cooking.
5. Just as we do not soak Birds Spit Soup for too long, we also avoid stewing them for too long. The older folks especially dislike it when the stewed Birds Spit Soup do not have solid chunks after cooking. We usually stew them for half to 1 hour in a double-boiler.
6. For best results, double-boil instead of using direct flame. We use a slow cooker as the double-boiler.
7. It is said that Birds Spit Soup is best consumed at room temperature, or chilled, on an empty stomach (such as just before bed). For maximum absorption, do not eat “heaty” snacks or medication a few hours before and after drinking Birds Spit Soup.

Blood-red Birds Spit Soup a commercial gimmick

    SO-CALLED rare Malaysian blood-red edible Birds Spit Soup, or cubilose, is fake, it has emerged. Malaysia only produces white edible Birds Spit Soup, a press conference was told Saturday in Shanghai by a representative of the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry.

The official press conference came on the heels of nation-wide media reports that said last month’s spot checks on the blood-red edible Birds Spit Soup at 491 dealers in Zhejiang Province found nitrite levels in all samples far exceeded the legal cap. Most of the 30,000 tested nests were imported from Malaysia.

Edible Birds Spit Soup, which is made from the secretions of a bird’s salivary glands, is regarded as a delicacy and medicinal in some Southeast Asian countries. On the Chinese mainland, each gram of Birds Spit Soup can cost 40 yuan (US$6.20), the Beijing-based Global Times reported Aug.19.

The report has triggered a national crisis of confidence in China about the world’s biggest exporter of the edible Birds Spit Soup, with 95 percent of it sold to China.

The Zhejiang Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce said at a press conference earlier this month that the amount of nitrite in local Birds Spit Soups was perilously above the permitted standard and posed a threat to consumers’ health.

On July 26, two bogus Malaysian officials held a press conference in Hangzhou to defend the quality of the blood-red Birds Spit Soup.

The identity of the two fake officials has been discovered, and they may face jail, according to Saturday’s press conference.

In Malaysia, the Veterinary Services Department (VSD) has decided to conduct spot checks on Birds Spit Soup processing factories to ensure only top quality nest is produced for export, according to an Aug. 25 report by the Sun Daily, an English newspaper in Malaysia.

Malay’s Federation of the Edible Birds Spit Soup Merchants Association deputy chairman, Datuk Choot Seng Chai, said the federation welcomes the move.

He said the move would show China that Malaysia does not export low-quality Birds Spit Soup.

“We don’t want the industry’s image to be tarnished by unscrupulous traders. We have never wanted to compromise the health of consumers in China (by poor-quality Birds Spit Soup),” he said, with reference to the reports in China, the Sun Daily reported.

He told the Hong Kong-based Oriental Daily News that the Birds Spit Soup industry and the government need to work closely together to restore confidence in Birds Spit Soup imported from Malaysia.

He said local Birds Spit Soup merchants are considering hiring independent foreign experts to carry out tests to give Malaysian products the seal of approval.

Aside from this, he said the government will make arrangements for Chinese government officials to get first-hand knowledge of how Birds Spit Soup is harvested and cleaned.