An unusual delicacy

Thanh Nien Daily, Vietnam – Mar 21, 2014

Locals harvest salangane nests on Salangane Island in central Vietnam
Salangane nests, or Yen sao, are primarily found in Central Vietnam, high-up on the cliffs of limestone islands.

The nests are built by a species of swift, or small birds, superficially related to swallows.
The birds use their own saliva to help form the Yen sao and can produce either a white or red variety of nest.
The red nests result when the birds cough up a mixture of saliva and blood in providing the “glue” for the nests.
Thought to possess many medicinal and healing properties, the nests can be processed and consumed, and are considered a delicacy by many in Southeast Asia.
Several locals have fallen to their deaths over the years while attempting to harvest the Yen sao, which are always in high demand.
More than 10 years ago, Professor Tran Hong Kien Trung began studying salangane nests.
He spoke with three women, aged 70-83, in the ancient quarter of Hanoi known for preparing Yen sao dishes.
According to the women, before preparing any of the meals, it is necessary to soak a salangane nest in water for 30-60 minutes to soften it,
remove the feathers and impurities, and pull out any threads from the nest.
One dish is served with chicken.
According to the women, it is often served as a starter at parties.
In this preparation, a fresh salangane nest is steamed for 20-30 minutes, placed in a small bowl and pieces of chicken meat are added with some hot, pure broth.
Another way to process the salangane nest is to make a sweet soup.
Water and refined sugar are brought to a boil while egg whites and broken eggshells are added to attract impurities.
A ladle is then used to remove the impurities and egg shells.
The sugar water is poured into a small bowl and the steamed salangane nest threads are added.
A third dish using salangane nest is known as Yen nhoi bo cau (pigeon stuffed with salangane nest).
In this method, a young pigeon is stuffed with fresh salangane nest threads, parts of a shark’s dorsal fin, and woodear and shiitake mushrooms.
The bird is steamed until the meat becomes soft.
The pigeon’s bones are removed and the entire bird is then fried until it turns a dark yellow.