What is a bird's nest soup?
Bird's nest soup or Yan Wo is a traditional Chinese delicacy made of Swiftlet's nest, a tropical bird located in many parts of Asia, including China and Thailand. The unique ingredient in this soup is considered to be an aphrodisiac, which also increases longevity, and as a result this food in some parts of China is high demand. Bird nests used in soup can be quite expensive and food is usually served only in exclusive restaurants.
Swiftlets are birds in the family Apodidae. Several species in this family are able to use echolocation, allowing them to nest and behave in caves. These species produce unique rubber -shaped saliva used to build their nests; They laid the springs of saliva, which when exposed to air solidify and create a solid nest. Harvesters enter caves, load nests, clean them and then offer them for sale.
To prepare the bird's nest soup, the nest is cooked in chicken material. The result is a fact with a floating piecey nest; The pieces have a distinctive gelatin texture that is not to the taste of all consumers. The soup is usually slightly spicy, if at all, and some people really consider it rather unimpressed. It is an exotic component that makes the soup popular, rather than an amazing taste, although it is high in some useful minerals such as calcium and magnesium, which is at least nutritionally.
Bird's Nest soup is associated with some serious ecological problems. Many companies reaping nests are involved in ruthless practices such as the nest harvest too fast to keep the birds, and some were accused of establishing private armies to protect particularly fertile caves. Some companies also destroy nests from the wrong bird species to stimulate the growth of the colony that will produce usable nests, giving other sohled Wiftlet species. General populationThese birds in Asia dropped, probably due to the growing market pressure on the bird's soup.
nest for the production of bird nesting soup can be obtained in Asian markets, where they are usually secured behind the counter due to their high costs. It is also possible to make soup with vegetarian substitutes, some of which can very closely closer to the texture of the Swiftlet's Nest, although they lack perceived aphrodisiac benefits.