You know Chinese New Year is coming when the piped in music in the malls all start to play the CNY tunes. Besides gifting one another with Chinese New Year goodies, many Chinese families also have the tradition of giving something more premium to the elders or close friends. Instead of bak kwa or abalone this year, how about gifting a traditional chinese superfood?

Purest Nest prides themselves on offering high quality bird’s nest and snow hashima, using only premium ingredients, at an affordable price. To be honest, I’ve always been a bit skeptical of the ready-to-drink bird’s nest in a bottle because there’s usually very little bird’s nest and just a lot of the liquid. Why spend so much on just the rock sugar water right?

But the bird’s nest from Purest Nest proved that bird’s nest in such a convenient form does not mean that we need to compromise on the amount, quality or taste. The bird’s nests tonics are made using premium, traditional hand-cleaned Asian Swiftlet bird’s nests. Say goodbye to straining your eyes trying to clean those nests yourself!

As you can see from my photos above, the bird’s nest is really abundant and not just watery. This big bottle is meant for a week’s consumption of bird’s nest (there’s 9g of dry bird’s nest in each large bottle). You just need to scoop out a couple of tablespoons of bird’s nest and consume it first thing in the morning to reap the full benefits of it. The Golden Grade Cave Nest is a CNY exclusive recipe and is produced in Singapore in limited quantities. This is my absolute favourite of all. Using only premium golden grade cave nest, rock sugar enhances its natural taste – you’ll feel great for the rest of the day having taken your daily goodness of it in the morning, guaranteed.

This gift set of 6 small bottles makes a great CNY gift too. There are 3 flavours – American Ginseng, Rose and Rock Sugar.

The benefits of ginseng are well-known – it combats fatigue, improves energy levels, supports the immune system and improves blood circulation among others. Rose promotes relaxation for restful sleep, reduces inflammation, balances the hormones, eases menstrual discomfort and cools the gastrointestinal tract. I really like the rose one because the floral notes paired with the not overly sweet rock sugar makes it a very calming luxurious treat. If you are traditional and like only the bird’s nest brewed with rock sugar, those are available in this set as well.

These 3 flavours are also available in the bigger bottles. Purest Nest offers a wide range of signature flavours. The bird’s nest with wolfberries and pandan is delicious too, mildly sweet with a slight pandan fragrance.

Wolfberries are one of the most antioxidant-rich foods, have anti-aging effects, improve eyesight and promote youthful looking skin. Depending on your needs, I’m sure you can find something at Purest Nest.

If you are not so into bird’s nest, Purest Nest also offers snow hashima. The Snow Hashima tonics are made using premium, traditional hand-cleaned Hashima (the protein rich tissue from female snow frogs). Each bottle contains 75 grams of rehydrated Snow Hasma.

I tried the Snow Hashima and American Ginseng and Snow Hashima and Red Dates. Hashima strengthens and nourishes the lungs and kidneys. The Chinese believe that Hashima reduces internal heatiness and helps to detox the body. But more importantly, there are 18 amino acids present which help to repair damaged cells and thus is good for those recovering from injury or major illnesses. It also contains iron, phosphorous, magnesium and potassium as well as vitamins B1 and B2 and fatty acids like Omega-3s which are essential for healthy cell development. They help to maintain the immune system and keep our skin plump and healthy.

Having tried the genuine and generous portions of bird’s nest and hashima offered by Purest Nest, I’m convinced that quality can come with convenience. What I like most about the products is their reassurance that they do not use nasty ingredients and the processes in which the products go through are made transparent (you can read it here).

If you have tried and like the products, you can even subscribe to the subscription plan for greater savings. You can read more about it here.

This year when the pandemic is rearing its ugly head globally again with many countries experiencing a second or third wave of infections, perhaps it would be more prudent to nourish our bodies this CNY instead of merely feasting. You could get these tonics for yourself or gift them to your loved ones as a token of good luck and love this CNY. I’m sure the elderly in your family will enjoy these bottles of nutrition from Purest Nest.

Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are mine.

A year has flown by, just like that.

With the pandemic still looming over the world, this year’s Chinese New Year will be different compared with other years when it comes to reunion dinner and visiting. Large gatherings are still not allowed for now, even in phase 3. But one thing that hasn’t changed is that we will still be happily feasting during this period of time! Let’s be thankful that we still have the mood and ability to obtain all these luxuries!

Apart from the annual splurges on seafood during this period of time, most people would stock up on the CNY goodies a month before CNY. This year, due to the pandemic, many Singaporeans would not be able to go across the border to get the goodies and I think not many would be keen to join long queues in Singapore either. I’m so glad that I managed to get premium quality CNY goodies from Ding Bakery this year online.

No hassle. No queues. A few clicks and the goodies arrived the very next day! There was also real-time tracking of the delivery van on the day of delivery so the whole process was very smooth.

And #1 on our favourites list is the pineapple tart. So naturally, the very first thing I tried when the stash arrived was the Award-Winning Premium Melt-in-your-Mouth Pineapple Tart (Ball). I just have a soft spot for pineapple tarts and these from Ding Bakery are buttery heaven and truly lives up to its name. The pineapple paste is not overly sweet and is made with natural ingredients. In fact, the ingredients in the pineapple tarts are merely: Eggs, Butter, Flour, Milk Powder, Sugar, Salt, Pineapple. I’m just so glad to see that there are no nasties in the ingredient list!

My next favourite CNY goodie is actually the kueh bangkit. Since I was a child, I have always enjoyed putting one of those melty white goodies into my mouth and waiting for the magic to happen. Ding Bakery has 3 types of Award-winning kueh bangkit (original, pandan and gula melaka) – I went for the original flavour. It was a tough choice, since I like pandan and gula melaka, but I always feel that the original flavour is one that is not to be missed. And it certainly did not disappoint. It is very fragrant, not overly sweet and the melty goodness brings back pleasant childhood memories. Ingredients: Eggs, Butter, Flour, Sugar, Salt, Coconut Cream

Next up, #3 on the favourites list is the Premium Spicy Hae Bee Hiam Roll (Sambal Prawn Cracker) – the crunchy spicy little rolls the entire family enjoys. Naturally I had to buy more of these because if I don’t watch the kids like a hawk, a whole bottle would be gone in no time. These hae bee hiam rolls are really addictive so be really careful when you have these in your hands! #saygoodbyetocaloriebudget

I wanted to order love letters but the original love letters were out of stock at the time I placed my order so I settled for the Premium Honey Chicken Floss Crispy Cracker. But it turned out to be a great thing because I feel that this actually is a really nice combination of tastes and textures. The sweetness of the love letter with the savoury sweetness of the chicken floss and the fragrance of the black sesame seeds is da bomb!

Lastly, I ordered Premium Almond Cookies because my hubby loves it. There’s a distinct almond taste in the cookie and the cookie is still so soft and decadent and almost melts in the mouth. If you’re a fan of almond cookies, do try Ding Bakery’s. Ingredients: Eggs, Butter, Flour, Sugar, Salt, Almond Powder, Peanut.

There are actually some other CNY goodies on the Ding Bakery’s website that I was keen to try but they were out of stock. But I heard that they will be replenishing stock soon. Stock runs out pretty fast so be sure to keep a lookout for your favourites and get them before they are gone too! Plus, take full advantage of the early bird offers now!

Delivery is free for orders above $100. Self-collection is available at 140 Paya Lebar Road, AZ Building, #03-13, Singapore 409015. If you’d like to taste the goodies before you buy them, you can also head to the same address and sample the goodies. All the CNY goodies are HALAL certified.

Disclosure: I was provided with store credits to sample the goodies. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are mine.