Myths of Bird Spit Soup

Please see below for some of the common MYTHS that need to be debunked:

Nest farming (house nests) is a cruel practice because you take away the swiftlets' home!

False!
First of all, contrary to popular belief, nest farming actually provides a better living condition for the birds compared to letting them live freely in other hazardous unprotected habitats. This is because, inside our bird houses, we will control the cleanliness (by removing their poos!), the temperature as well as the humidity of the house so that the swiftlets will be able to live more comfortably. Also, most importantly, the swiftlet families will be well protected from the harmful predators! Imagine lizard crawling around and attacking the baby birds! Poor babies!
Second of all, swiftlets have the natural habit of constructing nests throughout their lives; i.e. their secretion gland will continuously produce the fluid to build the nests. And unlike other birds, adult swiftlets do NOT rest inside the nests, instead, they attach themselves on the outside of the nests while resting. It is their young ones that stay inside the nests. So when the adults do not have young ones to take care of, the adults will leave the nests 'unused' and build new ones! In any case, we, Royal Bali Bird Spit Soup , do NOT abuse the practice of harvesting the nests! We will wait til the young ones grow up and fly off the nests before harvesting the nests!

Myths of Bird Spit Soup  

Cave nests are more nutritious compared to house nests.

False!
Since both cave and house swiftlet nests are made by the same type of swiftlet birds, the natural composition of the Bird Spit Soup  are the same. So what makes it different? It is the environment, particularly the walls ON which the birds construct the nests. Bird Spit Soup  are just like sponges, they are extremely absorbent and hence will absorb everything around them.
Suppose the cave walls are rich in zinc and iron, the attached nests will gradually absorb these minerals and slowly (but surely) turn their colours to be bluish and reddish.
So many will say cave nests are RICH in zinc and iron, hence more nutritious then? Not necessarily as too much of minerals will lead to poisoning! House nests, on the other hand, since most of the walls are made of natural wood, the chance of mineral poisoning is greatly reduced!

Red Nests are more nutritious compared to White Nests.

False!
There is no such thing as 'naturally-constructed' red nests. All nests created will be white (when dry) or translucent (when they're immersed in water). What makes them possess different colours are the impurities they contain. These impurities are such particles as iron which is responsible for giving the nests their reddish texture. Again, too much of iron intake is not very desirable for our health, is it?
Nowdays, the red blood nests are produced by the unethical dying of white Bird Spit Soup . Some immoral industry practitioners even adopt the use of the birds´ feces to produce the red Bird Spit Soup .
“It is also believed that if the swallows´ feces are collected from the swiftlet house and placed next to the Bird Spit Soup for a week (during that the Bird Spit Soup will be stored in plastic container and separated from the swallows´ feces by the gauze) can also formulate the Red´s nest.” – sentence cited directly from http://www.hkjebn.com/en/knowlege/knowlege_bn.php#three
Red nests produced via this method will inevitably contain a lot of nitrite and ammonia. Ammonia is a compound found in fertilizer and detergent. The consumption of nitrite has strong links to cancer and other major illnesses. Although many shops selling red Bird Spit Soup  have claimed that their red nests do not bring harmful health effects, however, we advice our customers not to consume any coloured nests.

5 ways to cook Bird Spit Soup

Bird Spit Soup  has been consumed in China as a health food for over 400 years. Benefits range from smoother skin complexion to an overall boost in immune system strength.

1.  Bird Spit Soup

Instructions:
1. Soak Bird Spit Soup in water for a minimum of two hours to overnight to expand the strands.
2. Separate the strands and clean the nest of impurities. Discard water.
3. Soak and wash the nest again if necessary using fresh clean water every time. (If you clean a large quantity of nest at one time, store the cleaned nest in the freezer for longer storage time or in the refrigerator for next day cooking)
FOR TRADITIONAL SAVORY SOUP: Add the cleaned Bird Spit Soup in prepared clear chicken broth or stock. Fold in beat egg white for texture and cooking sherry for fragrance. Add salt and pepper to taste and thickener (such as cornstarch) if desired. Serve warm.
FOR TRADITIONAL SWEET SOUP/DRINK: Steam the cleaned Bird Spit Soup with rock sugar according to your taste (average about 30 minutes). Steam longer for softer strands or shorter for firmer strands.
FOR A MODERN TWIST: Your imagination is the limit! Add cleaned Bird Spit Soup to your favorite vegetable soup or stew for a giant health boost!

2.  Bird Spit Soup Drink

Our delicious Bird Spit Soup drinks offer a more modern approach to traditional Bird Spit Soup . It can be served chilled, at room temperature or warmed up for comfort on a cold day.

Instructions:
FOR A MORE CONCENTRATED DRINK WITH FRUIT: Add  Bird Spit Soup 7 oz. single jar to a big bowl of fresh fruit cocktail for s simple and healthy dessert the whole family will enjoy.
FOR SOMETHING WARM AND SOOTHING: Add  Bird Spit Soup 7 oz. single jar to almond milk and bring to a boil. Add gingko nuts for comfort food at its best!
When traveling, never forget to bring a jar or two of 5 oz.  Bird Spit Soup drinks with you in your checked luggage so that you’ll never be without the best quality Bird Spit Soup any place you go!

3.  Bird Spit Soup Pastry

A  Bird Spit Soup original recipe! Bird Spit Soup makes a great pastry filler and tastes best when it is of the highest authentic quality such as that of  Bird Spit Soups. Our recipe offers an exciting twist on this ancient heritage food. Enjoy a warm Bird Spit Soup pastry at any time, but especially on cool winter days.

Instructions:
FOR A PASTY FILLER: Prepare your traditional pastry filler recipe and add pre-soaked and cleaned  Bird Spit Soup as part of the filler (for instructions on cleaning your nest, please refer to Bird Spit Soup  recipe). Bake pastry per instructions.
FOR AN UPGRADED TRADITIONAL PASTRY: Fold in pre-soaked and cleaned  Bird Spit Soup into phyllo (filo) dough to and follow baking instructions to make baklava and other Middle Eastern pastries with a healthy boost.

4. Passion fruit lemongrass Bird Spit Soupummer sipper

Recipe courtesy of A Bit of Bees Knees.

Ingredients:
2 cups (16oz) of water
1 bottle of  Birdness drink
1 stalk of lemongrass
1 passion fruit
Ice
Instructions:
In a small pot, boil 2 cups (16oz) of water. Cut lemongrass stalk into thin strips and place in boiling water; boil until fragrant and water turns a light amber color. Strain water into 2 glasses over ice and discard the lemongrass stalks. Add half a bottle of  Bird Spit Soup drink to each glass. Top with a spoonful of passion fruit pulp and an extra stalk of lemongrass. Add more ice if needed.

5. Sweet  Bird Spit Soupticky rice with fresh tropical fruit

Recipe courtesy of A Bit of Bees Knees.

Ingredients:
½ cup coconut milk
1 jar (5oz)  Bird Spit Soup drink
⅓ cup water
2 pinches salt (or to taste)
1 cup white long grain Thai sticky rice
2 tablespoons sugar
Coconut cream
Sesame seeds
Fresh mango, cactus fruit, dragon fruit and passion fruit
Instructions:
Pour one cup of white long grain Thai sticky rice into a bowl and cover with water; soak for 1 hour. Rinse rice and drain excess water then transfer rice to a pot. Add coconut milk,  Bird Spit Soup drink water, salt and sugar. Cover pot with lid and cook over medium-low for 30 minutes, or until the rice has soaked up the liquid. Scoop rice onto a serving dish and top with sweet coconut cream, sesame seeds and fresh fruit.