| How To Cook: |
|
|
|
PREPARE AHEAD:
|
1. Place the bird's nest in a medium-sized bowl, add enough warm water to cover and soak the nest for 3 hours. Then, with a pair of tweezers, carefully remove any protruding feathers. Wash the nest thoroughly under running water.
|
2. Place the bird's nest in a small saucepan, cover it with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil it uncovered for 5 minutes, then drain and discard the water.
|
3. Make chicken velvet in the following fashion: Lay the whole unsplit chicken breast on its side on a chopping board. Holding the breast firmly in place with one hand, cut it lengthwise along the curved breastbone with a cleaver or sharp knife.
|
4. Carefully cut away all the meat from one side of the breastbone. Then grasp the meat in one hand and pull it off the bones and away from the skin-using the cleaver to free the meat if necessary.
|
5. Turn the breast over and repeat on the other side. Remove each tube-shaped fillet from the rest of the breast meat, and pull out and discard the white tendon in each fillet.
|
6. Chop the fillets coarsely into small bits. Holding the front of one main breast section, scrape the meat away from its membrane with repeated light strokes of the cleaver. Repeat with the other side of the breast.
|
7. Combine the breast meat with the fillets and then mince finely, adding about ¼ cup of water-a little at a time-as you work. Place the minced chicken in a mixing bowl, sprinkle it with the cornstarch and salt, and stir together gently but thoroughly with your hand or a large spoon.
|
8. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a fork or whisk until they are frothy, then pour them into the chicken mixture and mix thoroughly. The finished chicken velvet should be light and fluffy.
|
9. Have the bird's nest, chicken velvet, chicken stock, white pepper, cornstarch mixture and ham within easy reach.
|
|
TO COOK:
|
1. In a 3- to 4-quart saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil over high heat. Drop in the bird's nest, bring to a boil again, and then reduce the heat to low and simmer covered for 5 minutes.
|
2. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and the white pepper. Give the cornstarch mixture a quick stir to recombine it and add it to the pan, stirring constantly and gently until the mixture thickens.
|
3. Add the chicken velvet, stir once or twice to disperse it evenly through the soup and remove the pan from the heat.
|
4. Pour the soup into a tureen, sprinkle the top with ham and serve at once.
|
