Recipe - Birds Nest Soup

3 One half ounce (approx) dried bird's nest
6 cup Rich chicken stock for soup
1 lg Chicken breast
2 tablespoon Cornstarch
2 tablespoon Rich chicken stock for paste
1 tablespoon Dry sherry
One fourth cup Rich chicken stock
2 Egg whites
1 teaspoon Salt
2 Green onions, minced
1 tablespoon Minced Smithfield ham

Preparation: Soak bird's nest in cold water
overnight. Drain and rinse. Spread softened nest
pieces on plate; pick out prominent pieces of
"foreign" matter (e.g. feathers, twigs) with tweezers.
Debone chicken breast, remove membrane and muscle
fiber, pound meat with cleaver handle to break down
tissue, mince chicken until it is pulp. Make medium
thick paste with cornstarch and chicken stock.

Cooking: Bring rich chicken stock for soup to boil.
Immediately add bird's nest; simmer 30 minutes. Mix
dry sherry and remaining stock; dribble slowly into
minced chicken. Lightly beat egg whites with a fork;
fold gently into chicken so they are not completely
blended. Add salt to soup. Bring soup back to boil and
add chicken mixture slowly so soup does not cool. When
soup returns to boil, it is ready to serve. You can
hold it at this point on low heat. Pour into serving
bowl, garnish with green onions and ham.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini