also: いぇんうお
edible bird's nest; swiftlet nest
Refers specifically to the nest of swiftlets, used as the main ingredient in bird's nest soup. Often written in kana.
See also: ツバメの巣
Edible bird's nest is known as an ingredient in high-class Chinese cuisine.
このスープにはえんかが使われている。
This soup contains edible bird's nest.
Chinese-derived reading; rarely used in Japanese.
From Chinese 燕窩 (yànwō), literally 'swallow nest'. The Japanese reading えんか is the on'yomi of the characters, while イェンウオ is a direct borrowing of the Chinese pronunciation.