燕巢- Edible Bird Nest

The medical hall lady told me now it's time to drink Edible Bird Nest. Yippee! I'm jumping up for joy. And the best part is I can get to drink it once a week. Hey! I only get this kind of nice treat during my pregnancy hor?? Non-pregnant years, I can only ration the Edible Bird Nest and drink once a month. Of course with the help from mom, who will help me boil it with 泡参. This time round (second pregnancy), she says I can just boil with honey sugar and 枸杞. Whatever it is, I always take my time to savour every mouthful and lick the bowl. Haha!

WHAT IS EDIBLE BIRD NEST?

Edible Bird Nest is a highly-prized delicacy discovered during the Tang Dynasty in China. At that time, it was only consumed by the Emperors and their families.
Edible Bird Nest is a white substance extracted from swallows' nests. It is normally found in places such as steep deep caves and crags.
This unique Asian delicacy undergoes an intensive and complex cleansing process before it can be consumed. The raw Edible Bird Nest is first soaked for up to 48 hours before it can be thoroughly cleaned of impurities such as feathers and twigs.

燕巢- Edible Bird Nest

EDIBLE BIRD NEST IS ESPECIALLY BENEFICIAL FOR:

Woman: It is known for its unique ability to prevent internal dryness due to ageing and is consumed to maintain youthfulness and a smooth, wrinkle-free complexion.
Elderly and children: It helps to stimulate appetite and aid digestion.
Patients: It speeds up recovery from illness and surgery as it provides a unique pre-digested form of protein and nutrients.
Expectant mothers: Pregnant woman and their foetus can benefit greatly from eating Edible Bird Nest. The regular consumption can increase nutrition and improve the health of the pregnant woman and foetus. The body and the immunity of the foetus can be strengthened and its mind activated. This thereby provides a firm foundation for future development. Woman consuming Edible Bird Nests after giving birth can also recover quicker and slim rapidly, helping to regain their youthful appearance.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA FOR SELECTING A EDIBLE BIRD NEST

* Shape and volume : the best Edible Bird Nests is in the shape of a boat or spoon. Edible Bird Nest can be triangular in shape if they have been built in the corner of two adjacent walls. However for nutritional value the shape does not matter. Edible Bird Nests that are broader in width rank higher. The real Edible Bird Nest should be in a natural shape.
* Color and Purity : The best Edible Bird Nest should be of natural colour, containing no mud and other impurities like moss. The colour of the white nest is an actual ivory. The yellow nest and the bloodyred nest are coloured straw and red, respectively. The variations and intensity in the colour are due to the difference in the mineral constituents of the food the swallow ate. The Edible Bird Nests, regardless of their colour, swell when soaked in clear water. The colouration in the Edible Bird Nest will fade and the nest threads look transparent after swelling. However, the water used for soaking should still remain transparent and colourless.
* Density and Swelling Capacity : Edible Bird Nests that have finer and denser nest threads appear almost gapless. They are bigger and thicker in volume and should have a higher swelling capacity. The swelling capacity refers to the water holding ability of a Edible Bird Nest. The higher the swelling capacity, the greater the Edible Bird Nest distends after immersion in water. Edible Bird Nests of different categories show different magnitudes of swelling capacity, i. e. the ratio between the weight of the Edible Bird Nest before and after swelling can be different. The swelling capacity should be measured by weight instead of by volume.
* Flavor and Dryness : Edible Bird Nest should be selected by smell. A real Edible Bird Nest retains a little bit of a fishy smell of the swallow’s saliva. When cooked, it releases a light aroma resembling the aroma of an egg white. It is essential to select a dry Edible Bird Nest. A Edible Bird Nest that is sticky and soft is certainly not dry enough. A wet Edible Bird Nest weighs heavier thus the price will be overcharged from the extra weight. A wet Edible Bird Nest would not be convenient for storage as it would attract mould easily and has a low swelling capacity.
* Price and Creditability : Edible Bird Nests should be purchased in person and selected by “looking”, “smelling” and “touching”. The price of the Edible Bird Nest should be weighed against the flavor, size, thickness of the nest, fineness of the threads, dryness, and a good swelling capacity. It is not possible to buy a good quality Edible Bird Nest at fair price if the goods have not been examined and the quality and category evaluated. The most trustful way to purchase a high quality Edible Bird Nest is to buy from shops having a good reputation and guaranteed quality.

CHOOSING EDIBLE BIRD NEST

The quality of processed Edible Bird Nest is determined by the amount of long and thick unbroken nest cement strands in the dried cleaned nests. The quality is higher if it contains more longer and thicker strands. When you choose Edible Bird Nest, feel the nest by your hand. It should be clean, dry, light and hard. Edible Bird Nest with feather and dirt is time consuming to clean while sticky and soft nests weigh heavier and turn mouldy easily. After soaking, 37.9 gms of good quality Edible Bird Nest will weigh about 263 to 300 gms.

REAL OR FAKE, GOOD OR BAD?

A natural Edible Bird Nest is the real Edible Bird Nest. Illegal merchants may coat a layer of egg white or jelly on poor quality imitations. This increases the weight. The fake Edible Bird Nest will reflect light and look opaque.
In contrast, light will penetrate through a real Edible Bird Nest. Some fraudulent Edible Bird Nests are made of "Malaysia rubber" or "pig skin". The former smells and tastes acidic and does not contain nest threads while the latter releases oil after soaking in water.
As for the quality, generally speaking, the price is a fair guideline in reflecting the quality of the Edible Bird Nest. The higher the quality and category of a Edible Bird Nests, the greater the nutritional value, swelling capacity and beauty and vice versa.

From condoms to Edible Bird Nest soup, personal concierges deliver them all

“When we rang the doorbell, the husband was very surprised and asked why we woke him up so early on a Sunday. But after we explained that the breakfast was from his wife, he smiled, let us in and thanked us.”

Who are they?

Personal concierges who can help you plan a party or run your errands have been around for several years.
But as Singaporeans become increasingly time-strapped and affluent, such service providers say they are seeing more unusual or demanding requests – from hunting down a rare luxury watch to cooking Edible Bird Nest soup to delivering condoms to a park.
These companies work directly with individual clients, as opposed to the concierge services provided by hotels, airlines, malls, banks and credit card companies.
Part of a relatively young industry that started in the United States in the late 1990s and in recent years here, such personal concierges offer a wide range of services, from buying and delivering groceries, making reservations at restaurants to babysitting.
At least 16 companies here provide personal concierge services from a condom to Edible Bird Nest soup, and the industry seems to be growing.
One company, A Winsome Life, which was started in 2012, says it can get up to 30 service requests a month. Honestbee, which started just three months ago, has already seen “tens of thousands” of customers, its spokesman says.

How much do they charge ?

The charges vary depending on the complexity of the task, but there is usually a delivery and/or service fee.
And however odd a request may be, the companies generally do not turn it down. But there are some requests, like helping to find social escorts, which they will decline.
Personal concierges say they often get food delivery requests.
In May this year, A Winsome Life was hired by a woman who works overseas, who asked for a full breakfast to be delivered to her husband for a special occasion.
Mr Melvin Lee, 27, who runs the business with his wife, Ms Jacqueline Teo, also 27, recalls having to buy about $20 worth of pastries and breakfast items from Baker & Cook in Holland Village, which was the husband’s favourite cafe.
Mr Lee, who charged about $40 for the service, then delivered the food: Edible Bird Nest to a condominium in Yio Chu Kang Road.
Another company, Personal Concierge and Property Management, which has been in the business for about five years, has been cooking and delivering Edible Bird Nest soup regularly to a client’s parents, who are in their 60s and 70s, for the last five years. It charges a three-figure sum for each delivery.
Personal Concierge’s owner, Ms Tan E.T., who is in her 30s, says: “The challenge is in making sure the Edible Bird Nest soup is still piping hot when it reaches their dining table.
“I can’t tell you exactly how we keep the Edible Bird Nest soup hot, but it took many tries to ‘master’ this technique.
“When we first started, I even brought along a slow cooker to the parents’ house to re-heat the Edible Bird Nest soup.”
Personal concierges also get requests to track down hard-to-find items.
For example, in May this year, a middle-aged woman approached Blitz to help her buy a limited-edition Hermes watch that she saw in a magazine.
The $88,000 watch, crafted in Switzerland, features a red and ochre dial hand-painted by Japanese master artist Buzan Fukushima. Only 12 pieces of the watch exist, but none was sold in Singapore.
Says Blitz’s co-founder, Mr Augustine Goh, 28: “We had no luck calling the boutiques here. Thankfully, one of our co-workers used to work in a private bank and had some contacts in the international luxury watch scene.
“We had to extend our reach. After numerous calls, we tracked down one piece in a Hermes boutique in Hong Kong and bought it for the woman immediately. Our service fee was $8,800.”
And in March this year, an Australian man in his 20s asked A Winsome Life to buy a pair of special edition Converse sneakers released specially for Chinese New Year.
Says Mr Lee: “He said they were not available in Australia, so we bought a pair in his size at Nex shopping mall for $210 and shipped it to him via FedEx for another $200.”
But not all unusual demands come with a hefty fee.
In June this year, Blitz, which started five months ago, received a very odd request – a man asked for condoms to be delivered to a tent in East Coast Park.
Within half an hour, a staff member passed the man a box of condoms at a nearby McDonald’s outlet. The delivery fee was $5.
Says Mr Goh: “The request was a little awkward, but we rationalised that the man needed the item and it was our job to provide it.”
Some companies, including Concierge Services Singapore and Blitz, have encountered clients who want help in getting social escorts. But that is a line they will not cross.
Says the managing director of Concierge Services Singapore, Ms Jessica Sanchez, who is in her 40s: “It’s just something we don’t want to be associated with, no matter how much a client offers.”
Experts told Life they were not surprised at the unusual demands.
Says Assistant Professor Elison Lim, 40, from the Nanyang Business School: “People are not likely to go to personal concierges for tasks like household chores. Many families in Singapore already have maids who can do that.
“People are more likely to turn to such service providers for tasks which they lack the time, knowledge or skills for, such as planning an unforgettable birthday party or shopping for the perfect gift.”
But Associate Professor of Marketing Sharon Ng, 41, who is also from Nanyang Business School, says companies should turn down requests that may involve “illegal, unethical or socially undesirable” behaviour.
“Although you want to be seen as helpful, service-oriented and responsive, it is also important to have ethical standards. In the long run, people are more likely to go to companies they can trust.”