Friday, October 5, 2007

Bird's Nest 'Soup'

Mr. A & Mr. B, 2 veterans within the company I am currently working for. In these past couple of years, stories of their past usually cause a tickle within my body. And yesterday was no exception. It was during lunch that A suddenly brought up the issue of the re-opening of a "hotel' in Puchong, and we all knew which hotel he was referring to. He knows this particular pimp who use to update him on new 'products' and one in particular was mentioned during lunch. He said, "jin wo" girls are now available. I had imagine that these "products" had skin as smooth as silk and was damn energetic and healthy *wiping sliver off my chin*. He kept asking if we knew what he meant. Being innocent *whistling*, we said no. He had explained that these 'products' will swallow. Ok, but I still did not see how "jin wo" is related to that.

B then changed to a related topic. He mentioned that in Malacca, there is this heritage building which has been renovated to attract birds to build their nest there. And he said, the birds that came are called Swallow.

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A Swallow

It was then that we know how it relates to the 'products'. But my curiosity soon discovered the following.

The Chinese name for bird's nest soup, "yan wo(燕窝)", translates literally as "swiftlet's nest" (yan=swiftlets, wo=nest). When dissolved in water, the birds' nests have a gelatinous texture used for
soup or sweet tong sui. It is mostly referred to as "jin wo" unless references are made to the salty or sweet soup in Chinese cuisine.

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A Swift

A & B, you are mistaken. They are swift, in name and in motion. They don't, I mean, they are not swallow.

Note : Fictional or is it?

5 comments:

Spellbound said...

Have u guys ever tasted bird’s nest soup before? The soup is soft and smooth and seems to glide down the throat.. coating it with a silky sweetness that lingers..

My guess is the term ‘yin wo’ girls has no reference whatsoever to the bird species that produce the nests.

Anonymous said...

Wonder why Mr A is always updated with latest "products" by the pimp??!
"Jin Wo" is pronounced in Mandarin or Cantonese? Still puzzled what u guys meant by "swallow".....can Mr A or Mr B or MADMAT enlighten Somebody a little...

Anonymous said...

I read somewhere that there are only 2 things that are constantly in a dog's mind. Sex and food.

And the fact that you guys are having this kinda conversation during lunch just confirmed this finding.

Because "Dogs are men's best friend"? and of course, Birds of a feather flock together!!

MatJun said...

Mr A seems to be in the scene ages ago. Thus his acquanitances. 'Jin Wo' is in Cantonese if I'm not mistaken. Swallow? Remember to chew before you swallow.

Anonymous said...

I can't agree with you more, Matt. However, if my 'borrowed' Oxford serves me correctly, a swift (noun) is a small bird with long narrow wings, similar to a 'swallow'.

A swallow (noun)is a small bird with long pointed wings and a tail with two points.

However, swallow (verb) means to make food, drink etc. go down your throat into your stomach.

I believe Mr A was refering to the latter.