Bird's Nest

[khiemtran]

Sarawak is also known for the production of swift's nests for Bird's nest soup.




The nests are essentially made from bird saliva and were originally harvested from high up on the walls of caves. Now, increasingly, special "swift barns" are built to increase production and allow an easier harvest.

Before the nests can be sold, they need to be cleaned, a tedious and painstaking process.



Here's how they look at the start.



And the finished product...

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wow. This is one of those foods where you wonder how people first got the idea that they could eat it.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

Like cheese. "Ugh; something horrible's happened to the milk. Let's try eating it!"

(Actually, I know why cheese was invented: to get milk to last through the winter when the cows weren't lactating, but how many people must have succumbed to food poisoning before they got it right?)

I suspect in the case of bird's nest soup, the idea came up when people were desperate, during a famine.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I'm always intrigued by the natural moulds they use on cheeses like Brie and Camembert. It makes me wonder how many new cheese moulds could be waiting in Australian caves for someone to finally come along and store milk in there.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Haha, yes, I agree about cheese. It was probably like, "noooo! the milk can't go bad! we need that stuff! Okay, okay. Look folks. We're just gonna eat this stuff anyway."

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Wasn't that one of the stories of how natto was invented?

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

In this case, it's more of a medicine than a food, so it's not all surprising that sooner or later someone would try cooking it up. Although, like a lot of Chinese medicines, it seems to be a convenient cure for enough different conditions to cover everybody.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I didn't know it was more of a medicine! I've heard of birds nest soup--I thought that was just a food. But it's sort of a healthful drink, then?

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's supposed to be good for colds, lung problems, complexion, libido, blood circulation (actually just about everything turns out to be good for circulation) and general good health (especially for the frail or infirm). If you boil it in water with sugar and pandan leaf, as we did last night, it tastes like sugary pandan-flavoured water. Lumpy, sugary pandan-flavoured water.