If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, bird’s nest is your skin’s best friend. All you need to
do is to take a look at the porcelain skin of those who swear by bird’s
nest and have been consuming it religiously since young.
The boss of Royal Bird’s Nest, a bird’s nest specialty shop based in People’s Park Centre in Chinatown, is one such example. He has been taking bird’s nest everyday since he was a little boy. If you were to see him in person, you would certainly be in awe of his smooth, radiant and absolutely pore-less skin.
What are the benefits of consuming bird’s nest?
Traditionally
prepared as a soup, bird’s nest is rich in organic nutrients such as soluble glycoprotein, amino acids and minerals. Bird’s nest also contains “Cell Division Inducing Hormone” and an “Epithelial Growth Factor” that stimulate the growth and division of cells to enhance tissue growth, cellular regeneration and cell-mediated immunity in human beings.
If you consume bird’s nest regularly, you can be assured of fairer, younger and more radiant skin. It also strengthens your lungs, clears phlegm, and enhances your body’s immunity.
Did you know that consumption of bird’s nest during pregnancy also boosts your baby’s immune system? It also shortens your recovery time after giving birth.
I personally enjoy bird’s nest as a tonic from time to time as it is truly delicious in comparison to most traditional Chinese medicine concoctions. However, I could never quite figure out why there are so many varieties of bird’s nest in the market.
How do you tell if a particular type of bird’s nest is superior or inferior in quality?
Besides sharing more about Royal Bird’s Nest, I will also be highlighting 5 lesser known facts about bird’s nest that would give you tips on selecting and cooking bird’s nest to reap its optimal health benefits. Royal Bird’s Nest has also kindly extended exclusive discounts to all my lovely readers, so do read on till the end of this post to find out more.
Background of Royal Bird’s Nest
Royal Bird’s Nest specializes in 100% genuine bird’s nest without harmful chemicals, artificial colouring or preservatives.
No bleaching agents are used in the process of cleaning. To ensure that its bird’s nest is safe for consumption, Royal Bird’s Nest developed a state-of-the-art cleaning technology that uses tiny bubbles in water to release explosive energy. This energy, coupled with reactive oxygen, exterminates pollutants such as E.Coli, Fungi, Nitrate and Nitrite in bird’s nest without compromising its nutritional value.
Quality is assured as Royal Bird’s Nest oversees the entire value chain process in-house, beginning with harvesting, followed by cleaning, quality control and ending with packaging.
Royal Bird’s Nest believes in bringing bird’s nest to the masses by selling them at wholesale prices. Besides premium bird’s nest packed in transparent boxes which are perfect as gifts or even for personal consumption, it also serves pocket-friendly freshly brewed bird’s nest soup in four different flavours.
Too busy to brew a bowl of bird’s nest at home? Now, you can pop by Royal Bird’s Nest for a quick fix!
We were treated to the Rock Sugar, Ginseng and Osmanthus varieties. Priced at just S$12 a bowl, each flavour came along with its own distinctive taste to cater to varying preferences.
Karen and I generally have a soft spot for bird’s nest with rock sugar, hence that was our personal favourite at Royal Bird’s Nest.
For a more concentrated concoction, order their premium bird’s nest soup, priced at S$68. If you are too busy to drop by the shop, you can make arrangements to have your bird’s nest soup delivered right to your doorstep one day in advance. How very convenient!
Meant to be shared among 2-3 pax, the premium bird’s nest soup packs a punch as every spoonful delivers generous portions of nourishing bird’s nest. While it is best to consume bird’s nest when it is freshly brewed, you can still enjoy this bowl of bird’s nest goodness 5-6 days down the road as long as it is stored in the refrigerator.
As we indulged in servings after servings of delectable bird’s nest soup, questions about how to go about choosing and cooking the best bird’s nest for consumption began to fill our minds.
We had a very informative Q&A session with the boss of Royal Bird’s Nest, who patiently answered each and every question as candidly as he could to satisfy our curiosity. He took our breaths away with his candour as he debunked several myths about bird’s nest and shared invaluable insights with us, no holds barred.
I thought it would be useful to share these nuggets of information with you, so I have compiled 5 facts about bird’s nest that you probably never knew!
FACT #1:
Blood Bird’s Nest is NOT superior in quality
Blood Bird’s Nest, commonly known as 血燕 sports a reddish brown hue (far left in photo below) and is known to be a delicacy that is rich in nutrition as it is said to be produced by mother birds who rebuilt the nests many times till their saliva becomes blood. Contrary to popular belief, the reddish brown colour is typically due to the accumulation of swallow faeces, which does not translate to higher nutritional value.
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| (L-R) Fake Blood Bird’s Nest, Cave Bird’s Nest and House Bird’s Nest |
In many cases, swallow breeders have also resorted to dyeing the bird’s nest or adding nitrites to create blood bird’s nest. Due to the potential health threats posed, the sale of blood bird’s nest has already been banned in China.
FACT #2:
There is NO difference in nutritional value between House Bird’s Nest and Cave Bird’s Nest
I was told by friends who buy bird’s nest frequently that cave bird’s nest is superior to house bird’s nest. If you were to step into a bird’s nest shop, you will realize that cave bird’s nest fetches a higher price as well. The main reason is because cave bird’s nest are produced by wild swiftlets and are thus considered to be more valuable.
The truth of the matter is, the higher price takes into account the danger harvesters face when harvesting cave bird’s nest and such bird’s nest typically contain more foreign materials such as feathers and twigs. It is also more susceptible to heavy metal contamination due to external environment factors.
Given all the potential risks and higher price point, it is probably best to stick to house bird’s nest since there isn’t any difference in terms of nutritional value between the two.
FACT #3:
Beautifully Molded Bird’s Nest and Bird’s Nest Strips have the same nutritional value
Most of the bird’s nest that we come across in shops come in a beautiful concave shape, as pictured below.
If you thought the shape is completely natural, sorry to burst your bubble. This shape is actually molded to perfection using a plastic mold.
Before they are molded, bird’s nest comes in strips. If you are less concerned about presentation or if you are buying for personal consumption, bird’s nest strips are just as good and are likely to be more attractively priced too.
FACT #4:
White Bird’s Nest is better than Yellow Bird’s Nest
Yellow bird’s nest is widely popular due to its gorgeous colour, but did you know that it belongs to an older harvest? Yellow bird’s nest are usually harvested after more than 4 -6 months and the colour is usually caused by fermentation or oxidation. The cooking process is also longer as it is much harder.
Fresh bird’s nest is white in colour. As bird’s nest is best taken fresh, white bird’s nest is more nutritious and beneficial for your body!
FACT #5:
Never boil your bird’s nest beyond a temperature of 120 Degrees Celsius as the nutritional value would be lost
Cooking bird’s nest is an art in itself. The first step is to soak the bird’s nest in water for 2 hours before double boiling. Double boiling is an integral step to preserve the essence and nutrients. Do take precautions to ensure that temperature does not go beyond 120 Degrees Celsius as this will cause the nutritional value of the bird’s nest to be compromised.
Now you know what to look out for when you go bird’s nest shopping! I hope you found these 5 facts about Bird’s Nest useful.
*****
Exclusive Promo for Readers of Shopping Queen’s Haven
Royal Bird’s Nest has also kindly extended a 10% storewide discount on all products and S$2 off every bird’s nest soup purchased to all my readers.
To be entitled to this promo, all you have to do is to quote my blog name or show them this blog post.
*****
Royal Bird’s Nest
Address:
101 Upper Cross Street
People’s Park Centre
#02-66
Singapore 058357
(Nearest MRT: Chinatown)
Website:
Facebook:
I don’t know about you, but I love night markets (also known as pasar malams) in Malaysia, especially in KL. I visited the pasar malam along Jalan Masjid recently as part of the KL Heritage Night Walk. The street food is amazing, you get to savour old school snacks and the stalls open till late.
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