Majority of the bird nest consumers are still wondering: What are the difference between dry pick and wet pick bird nest? Which one is better, wet pick, dry pick or half dry half wet? Does picking method affecting the bird nest quality? Well, we will answer all of your doubts, just keep reading!
Video Transcript:
In the industry, there’s wet pick, dry pick, or half dry or half wet.
What are the difference between them and which one we use in our processing?
So this one terminologies, obviously the terminologies will be defined by the person who interpretes it. So there’s no common standard. But in general, for example half dry and half wet for our understanding in our company is pretty much similar. Half dry and half wet, it is basically half of them.
Let we start with wet actually.
Wet processing is the most common processing method. It’s practiced everywhere. And it’s the easiest way to pluck off the feathers. Because you soak the bird nest in the water. Now there are a lot of variations to do this. Some people just soak in the water, and then let it a bit dry on the table, some people just do it in the water, some people let it for a day, they keep it for a day, and then they do it tomorrow.
A lot of variations basically but it soaks in the water for a quite a while. That’s wet pick. And the result of the wet pick is usually cleanest. Because when it’s wet, it tends to open. The pores of the bird nest tend to open.
The result of the wet processing will not be the same with the half dry or dry, in terms of the surface. Because it needs more moulding, more shaping, more drying and tends the fibre you can see, it’s already opened and it tends to be flat and all these things. For half dry it’s not going to be very clean but it’s natural process.
How about the nutrition? Any difference, wet and half wet?
Let me explain maybe half dry and half wet one first.
Basically it’s not going to be clean but you actually pluck the bird nest in the sort of dry condition. So it still have a shape, but it’s not flat or it’s not something wet. It still have a shape, and you pluck it off. But that being said, you cannot reach the deepest part of the bird nest and it’s really hard to basically get it out. So the dirt later when it soak and prepare for cooking there might be some debris still.
In terms of the nutritional values, people believe that the dry one retains more, that’s why they keep on saying natural natural natural. In terms of the wet one, it dilutes the nutrition. People believe. But there’s no conclusive evidence. There are small researches here and there that basically collaborate with that, and maybe have the same tendencies, but there’s no definite conclusive answer yet about what are the nutritions that dilutes, how many, what are the percentage, before and after, huge amount of samplings, and all these, it hasn’t been done.
The trade-off is if we use wet pick we’ll get a cleaner product and maybe food safety-wise is better. And the customer enjoys it (more), they can cook without feather, Yes, and without plucking again, yes. But of course, what I’m trying to say here, what I just explained is just black and white. They have grey area obviously.
We have hundreds if not thousands of processing factories. Every factory has their way of doing that. How to bridge these two, to still retain the good quality products, but doing it faster. Some are successful in doing that but is not always black and white, there are also some certain part of the processing factories that can also optimise the nutritional values, cleanliness and all these things in the same time, and not pulled in different extreme.
You mean wet and dry?
Yes, wet and dry. Wet has to be losing nutritional values and all the stereotypes. But this is usually the tendency in the factory processing. There are techniques, mini techniques that is applied to minimise. So to get the best product, clean, but nutrition value high, and food safety. If I can tell, all of our products in the registered export to China, they all use water because of the nitrite, doesn’t mean it’s wet but they all use water.
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