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Bird's Nest Tonic Soup - help!


Gastro888

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My father had a massive heart attack, went into heart failure and a quadruple bypass. While my dad was in the hospital, my mother got hit in the head and fell, causing a concussion with a subdural hematoma. I want to make bird's nest tonic soup for them to improve their appetites, especially for my father.

I was told yeen woh tong (Cantonese) would help stimulate an ill person's appetite. We got the shredded, separated "white" bird's nest, instead of the whole ones that were $600 for a box (A grade).

First question(s): Does it matter if you get the shredded yeen woh? How much can/should one bargain the price for yeen woh at a reputable, high quality Chinese herbal shop? Do they really discount yeen woh that much? I guess as a Toisanese, I'm always wondering this question.

The bird's nest shreds are pretty clean and they are in good condition. Then again, since I've never dun (double boiled) yeen woh tong (Cantonese), what do I know?

Second question: What now?

I was told to soak the yeen woh in several changes of cold water for at least five hours. Then make chicken broth (I have a stewing hen and broth from several young chickens), bring it to a boil, put that along with the yeen woh into my dhun bow (that ceramic vessel used for double boiled tonics) and dhun the tonic soup for about one hour and add a bit of salt to taste. Do this once a week for a month.

Someone told me I could add Chinese slab sugar and egg whites as well. They are Malaysian so maybe that's why they do it that way.

The main goal to put on the 20lbs that my father lost in one month. He's not gained one pound since he's been back home and we're all concerned. Thank you for your help.

(My father promised my mother he'd go back to Hong Kong with her once he's fully recovered. We'll see if this helps him along. He keeps on talking about the "hoong chea jai cha" (little red car tea) that he would drink back in HK during the 1950-1960's. I told him when we go, we're going back to Toisan as well.)

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Wow, sorry to hear about your parents. I hope they recover quickly.

I can't help you much in the purchasing of bird's nest - I've never bought it or cooked it. But I remember my grandmother and uncle making it back in California (we're also Toisanese). They soaked it for several hours (with some rice wine, I believe) then cooked it with chicken broth and some shredded ham. Add a bit of sherry or rice wine at the end, just before serving it.

Making it into tong shui is one of the ways they do it in Hong Kong - with the sugar and egg white instead of the chicken broth. Until I moved here, I had never tasted it in a sweet preparation; I'd always had it as savoury soup.

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Thanks, aprilmei. :)

I will try to add ham to the soup. That makes it sound like the shark fin's soup that we all have at wedding banquets. I just hope it works; at this price, it should be doing our taxes.

I should upload a picture of it to get feedback on its quality. Again, I have no clue. It looks like shredded blue crab meat, actually.

BTW, do you know of the "hoong che jai cha" my parents speak of? They are asking me to find it for them. All I find is Lipton from Asia, Ten Ren tea and other teas of questionable origin.

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Really sorry to hear about your father and mother, Gastro. They'll be happy to have you looking after them with the traditional tonics.

I'll see if I can find out more information about the tonic when I visit my mom tonight.

Dejah

www.hillmanweb.com

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Thanks for your help, Dejah, I appreciate it.

Actually, I was thinking of you while my parents were in the hospital. Don't you volunteer/work at a language center that does medical translation? I vaguely remember something like that. I wished I had your number handy - translating congestive heart failure was rather tough.

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A picture of the bird's nest.

gallery_19890_766_149516.jpg

A close up. Sorry about my hand; it's been dried out from all the Purell I was using in the hospital.

gallery_19890_766_101915.jpg

Any comments on quality would be appreciated. I suppose since there is only a finite amount of bird's nest available, fake ones are bound to be on the market.

This is something for yeet hay:

gallery_19890_766_462373.jpg

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