How to Cook Bird’s Nest Soup

Bird’s nest soup might be a delicacy, but there is no shortage of recipes for edible bird’s nest soup.

Recipes range from simple ingredients and basic processes to ingredients as exotic as the nests themselves and painstaking steps for preparation.

Because of this, you have a lot of different options for how to cook bird’s nest soup based on your skill level.

Over the next few minutes, we’ll cover how to prepare your edible bird’s nest soup and how to cook it in a way that brings maximum flavor, texture and nutrition to your next meal.

How to Cook Bird’s Nest Soup

Preparing Your Bird’s Nest Soup for Cooking

As you plan out your bird’s nest soup, you should plan on using about 15g of bird’s nest soup per person – a small kitchen scale will be helpful.

Soaking the bird’s nest soup

Once you’ve got your nests selected and weighed, you’ll need to move on to the soak step.

We recommend soaking your bird’s nest soup for 24 hours. Doing so rehydrates the nests, gives time for their yellow tint to fade and gives you a chance to spot any impurities.

Use a white bowl to soak your nests; the pale background helps you see dirt, feathers and other inclusions.

We suggest you change the water at least twice during this process, as small impurities and feathers tend to settle in the bowl.

Removing impurities and foreign objects

If you spot any impurities – pinfeathers are common – use tweezers to remove them.

While the highest-grade nests will have fewer feathers and other impurities, plan on using a few minutes during the cooking prep process to inspect your soaked nests for leftover feathers and particles.

Once you’ve picked out the impurities, run the water and the nests through a hand-held strainer to ensure the nests are clean and foreign particles are filtered out.

Hot-water rinse

After the initial strain, place the nests back in your bowl and add hot water. This final step is one additional rinse – it is vitally important that you present the nests in their purest form.

Cooking Your Bird’s Nest Soup

Now that your bird’s nests are clean, soft and ready to cook, you have a variety of options for authentic edible bird’s nest dishes.

Egg and Ginger Bird’s Nest Soup

A popular version of bird’s nest soup includes Company edible bird’s nests, soy sauce, white pepper, ginger and egg whites.

Pour two cups of chicken stock into a small saucepan and add two slices of ginger. Add your bird’s nests, a dash of rice cooking wine vinegar (2 tsp) and a splash of soy sauce (1 tsp).

Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Remove ginger. Add a teaspoon of tapioca starch mixed with water.

The final step is to stir in one beaten egg white. The stirring is important here – it keeps the egg white from clumping up and provides an excellent aesthetic.

Garnish with small bits of diced ham and scallions.

Rock Sugar Bird’s Nest Soup

While many bird’s nest soups are intended as a pre-dinner starter or part of the main course, there are a significant number of recipes devoted to using edible bird’s nest soup as a dessert item.

One of the most popular methods of cooking a bird’s nest soup dessert is boiling the nests with rock sugar, ginseng and red Chinese dates.

This recipe is pretty simple. Pour four cups of water into a small saucepan, add three to four slices of ginseng, five dried dates and two ounces of yellow rock sugar.

Bring to a boil, then let it cool to room temperature. Once the liquid has cooled, add two bird’s nest soup and serve.

Reminders for Cooking Bird’s Nest Soup

When you’re boiling a soup that includes bird’s nest soup, be sure to monitor the nests. If you leave them boiling for too long, they’ll dissolve into the water and lose their gelatin-like texture.

Second, be as methodical as you can with the cleaning process. You don’t want any feathers, bits of dirt or other objects in your food.

Tweezers are an excellent way to remove any foreign objects because they are precise – heavy-handed cleaning can break the nests fibers down into smaller chunks and mar the consistency of your dish.

We recommend using only the highest-grade nests for cooking. However, we offer varying levels of bird’s nest soup ranging from AAA (highest) down to C (lowest). Our grading system accounts for color, size and shape.

Fake Bird’s Nest Soup: How to Tell If You’re Bird’s Nest Soup is Authentic

Can you tell the difference between fake bird’s nest soup and real bird’s nest soup?

If you’ve had the courage and curiosity to try the prized soup, there’s a good chance you were so enamored by the new experience that you weren’t too concerned about whether or not what you were eating was fake.

Unfortunately, the edible bird’s nest soup market is overrun with fake producers who are looking to cash in on what is a booming niche food market: one pound of bird’s nest soup can sell for more than $4,000 per pound.

Couple that with tourists’ increasing interest in the Asian delicacy and you’ve got a formula for fraud.

As experts in the edible bird’s-nest industry, our goal is to help you distinguish between fake bird’s nest soup and authentic ones.

So, we’ve put together a list of things you’ll want to check once you’ve got your bird’s nest soup in hand.

 Fake Bird’s Nest Soup: How to Tell If You’re Bird’s Nest Soup is Authentic

Bird’s Nest Soup: A Culinary Tradition

Before we jump into our list of ways to spot fake edible bird’s nest soup, we want to give you a little background on bird’s nest soup.

The soup has been popular in China for more than 1,000 years. It’s made with nests built from the saliva of the swiftlet, a bird native to several countries along the east coast of Asia, Malaysia, the Philippines and into the South Pacific.

The nests are harvested, cleaned and shipped to buyers around the world who use them in restaurants, give the nests as gifts or enjoy them in their own homemade soups.

Fake Bird’s Nest Soup: The Crumble Test

The biological make-up of a real bird’s nest soup is such that, when you crumble it between your fingers, the nest breaks down into a powder like substance.

Man-made, chemical-based bird’s nest soup are fragile just like the real version, but, when you try to crumble a fake between your fingers, it breaks off into big chunks.

Fake Bird’s Nest Soup: The Soak Test

An important part of making bird’s nest soup is soaking the nest in water for 1-2 hours. This rehydration process gives the nest the consistency it needs to integrate into your soup.

Post-soak shape: Fake nests are more uniform

A real bird’s nest soup will, after about 30 minutes, transform into a gelatinous, formless shape.

The fibers of the nest will be somewhat visible, but not nearly as uniform as they were when they were dry. You may also find a feather or two; this is completely normal.

Fake bird’s nest soup, on the other hand, will maintain a uniform shape during the soaking process and will have a minor chemical or fatty/fried smell. The surface of the fake bird’s nest soup will be bumpy.

Post-soak size: Fake nests don’t expand

Real bird’s nest soup usually double in size after the soaking stage, whereas fake bird’s nest soup remain the same size.

In fact, real nests can absorb up to seven to nine times their weight in water.

Soak color: Fake nests bleed

Arguably the most prized bird’s nest soup type is the blood nest, a red bird’s nest soup thought to be colored by blood in the swiftlet’s saliva.

Once your soak is done, the real red bird’s nest soup will retain its blood-red color. The red coloring of a fake bird’s nest soup will bleed into the water, a sign that artificial colors were used to tint the nest.

Soak Consistency: Fake nests cloud water

Because bird’s nest soups are made from a swiftlet’s water-based saliva, they mix well with water. For example, if you were to stir a bird’s nest soup while it was soaking, a bubbly foam would appear on the surface of the water.

Fake bird’s nest soup are made from chemicals. So, if you were to stir a fake bird’s nest soup, it would cloud the water instead of creating a surface foam.

Company: The Industry Leader in Authentic Bird’s Nest Soup

As we mentioned earlier, we emphasize quality control so that you can order your bird’s nest soup without worry of fakes or counterfeits.

If you want to put your next bird’s nest soup to the test, take a random nest from your order and soak it at room temperature for between one and two hours.

Company swiftlet nests will maintain their shape and expand considerably. You’ll be able to shred our nests just like you would boiled chicken – the nest will separate into long strands and the water will remain clear; no sediment or discoloration.

Facts About Different Types of Bird's Nest Soup

Edible Bird’s Nest Soup Types: Red, Gold, White and Wild

If you’ve heard of Bird’s Nest Soup, then you’ve probably seen photos of eager – and sometimes unsure – diners lifting to their mouth a spoonful of broth mixed with gelatinous nest fibers.

What you probably don’t know is that there are multiple types of bird’s nests that vary based on where they were harvested and what color they are.

We sell four different types of nests: red, gold, white and wild.

Facts About Different Types of Bird's Nest Soup

Red Edible Bird’s Nest Soup: The Legendary Delicacy

The rarest and most expensive bird’s nest soup are red, and rightly so. Their crimson coloration is breathtaking and creates an unmatched aesthetic for soups and desserts.

While the rarity of these nests is undisputed, exactly why they’re red has long been a point of controversy and wonder.

There are those who believe the nests are red because the saliva of the swallow building a red nest is laced with blood. The bird bleeds, they say, because the bird’s mouth is worn out from building multiple nests over its lifetime.

Others say the red bird's nest soup are produced when swallows consume lotus seeds, whose reddish hue mixes with the bird’s saliva.

Recently, scientists have put forth a more plausible explanation. They say that the nests turn red because moisture and oxygen in the air react with minerals the nest pulls from the rocks to which they cling. The result is a magnificent rust color.

These nests’ striking coloration demands a high price, making them the most sought-after edible bird’s nest soup on the market.

Gold Edible Bird’s Nest Soup: Rare in Their Own Right

While red bird’s nest soup are the rarest of the four we sell, gold bird’s nest soup are also a prized ingredient for diners across the world.

These nests account for 10% of the global Bird’s Nest Soup supply, which makes them the second-rarest type of Bird’s Nest Soup on the market.

The story behind the color of these nests is very similar to that of the red nests. They also extract minerals from the rocks around them, and those minerals interact with oxygen and humidity to produce an elegant gold color.

While they aren’t quite as stunning as the red nests, gold bird’s nest soup still add a tremendous color element to your dish.

White Edible Bird’s Nest Soup: The Popular Choice

White nests are widely regarded as the “Caviar of the East” and are beloved for their unique taste.

These nests are built in the same way that red and gold nests are built. However, the chemical reactions that make gold and red nests don’t take place with white nests.

While these nests may be white when they’re packaged, they undergo a change in color as they’re soaked during the prep process.

Instead of maintaining their white tint, they become translucent. While white nests may not have the color pop of their more expensive counterparts, their taste more than makes up for it.

Wild Edible Bird’s Nest Soup: A Rare Type

The final type of nest is the wild bird’s nest soup. This type of nest contrasts the house nests we mentioned earlier.

Wild nests are nests that swallows build on the walls of limestone caves throughout Indonesia and Asia.

These wild nests are often the most prized – red wild nests are even rarer – and have been the source of secrecy in the industry.

Swallow caves are kept under lock and key by the harvesters who own rights to their caves, and rightly so; poachers are on the prowl at these natural-occurring habitats.

These nests also grow on the sides of cliffs; removing them can be a dangerous proposition.

Over the past few years, intense harvesting in countries like Malaysia have greatly reduced swallow populations.

Company Edible Nests: Responsibly Sourced

Some companies will cut corners in Bird’s Nest Soup production because they can demand such a high price for their nests. This leads them to use harmful chemicals to die white nests red.

Company has always prided itself in sourcing its nests from cruelty-free swallow houses, where workers take the utmost care in harvesting nests. Our nests are cleaned by hand with the utmost concern for hygiene and safety.

We are also one of the few vendors in the United States authorized to sell wild bird’s nest soup.

What is a Blood Bird’s Nest Soup?

One edible Bird’s Nest Soup is more prized than all others – the blood Bird’s Nest Soup.

Also known as red Bird’s Nest Soups, the origins of their striking color are almost as legendary as the high price they command.

The history of this beautiful Bird’s Nest Soup goes back thousands of years, and, along the way, there are multiple explanations as to why these normally white nests take a decidedly red turn.

What is a Blood Bird’s Nest Soup?

The First Legend: Blood Bird’s Nest Soups Are Made From Blood

The swallows (also known as “swiftlets”) that make edible Bird’s Nest Soups use their saliva to build the gelatinous strands that create the nest.

Think back to hundreds of years ago, before the average person had access to the kind of scientific information we do today. How would you explain the color of the nests?

Your first instinct may be to attribute the color of this delicacy to actual blood. This is, in fact, one of the explanations of the color of these nests.

The thinking is that female swallows have to build multiple nests over their lifetime to accommodate their young. They work hard to construct these nests strand by strand.

In the course of their labor, their saliva glands are strained and blood starts to seep out.

That blood mixes with saliva and the result is a crimson-colored liquid. In this sense, the blood-stained building material is not very different than someone adding a few drops of food coloring to cement.

The Second Legend: Blood Bird’s Nest Soups Are Made From Lotus Seeds

While the first explanation about why some edible Bird’s Nest Soups are blood red is a matter of the swallow’s body, the second is a matter of the bird’s diet.

The delicious red Bird’s Nest Soups you prepare for soup or dessert, some say, is actually the result of what the swallow eats.

One of the bird’s favorite foods in its Southeast Asian habitat is the lotus flower, a common plant with round seeds that, in some cases, have a dark red hue to them.

The swallow snacks on these seeds, and, as they eat them, the color from the seeds is transferred to their mouth, kind of like how a sucker can change the color of a child’s mouth to red, blue, green and more.

The bird’s then fly back to their home to build a nest. As they generate saliva, it mixes with the color from the lotus seeds and creates the blood-colored edible Bird’s Nest Soups.

The Likely Explanation: Blood Bird’s Nest Soups Are Made by Chemical Reactions

For hundreds of years, the origins of the delicacy that is the red Bird’s Nest Soup remained the realm of hypothesis and legend.

However, now that the edible Bird’s Nest Soup industry is a multi-billion-dollar economy, scientists have taken notice and conducted multiple studies about the health benefits of Bird’s Nest Soups as well as the origins of their colors.

The most recent studies have shown that diet and actual blood don’t have anything to do with the crimson-colored edible Bird’s Nest Soup.

Research proves that the nests get their color from common chemical reactions that take place in the bird’s habitats.

The edible nests of swallows who live in caves absorb minerals from the limestone walls to which they cling.

Since their caves tend to be saturated with humidity, the water and oxygen in the air mix with the minerals from the rocks and form a sort of “rust” that gives the nest its dazzling color.

Other studies have explored the idea of the nests gaining their color by way of chemical reactions involving sodium nitrate derived from a mix of the bird’s droppings, urine and other environmental materials.

This theory explains why red nests can be harvested from nest farms where limestone is not present.

How to Avoid Fakes and Where to Buy Blood Bird’s Nest Soups

Because red Bird’s Nest Soups can demand such a high price, thousands of fake red nests have hit the market.  A few years ago, the fakes became such a problem that China banned red-nest imports from certain countries.

The criminals behind these nests use red-tinted sodium nitrate to color the nests. While they may look authentic in the box, these nests’ red color tends to bleed when you soak them before cooking.

The best way to avoid fakes is to buy from a reputable company. Our quality-control process ensures that every red Bird’s Nest Soup you get is authentic and made by natural processes free of dangerous chemicals used in excess by criminals.

Bird’s Nest Soup Nutrition Facts: A Variety of Health Benefits

For hundreds of years, Chinese culture has hailed the nutritional benefits of bird’s nest soup.

Virility, better skin, stronger pregnancies and healthier babies – all have been claimed as benefits of consuming soups featuring edible bird’s nests.

However, as the soup has become a global phenomenon, those old notions of health benefits have come under scrutiny: Is bird’s nest soup as healthy as they say it is?

Turns out the Chinese were right – edible swallow’s nests are not only a delicious delicacy, but they’re also a nutritious meal that can benefit multiple age groups.

Your Immune System Gets Stronger

Whenever cancer patients undergo chemotherapy, both good and bad cells are killed. Some of those good cells are called “B cells”, which are white blood cells that produce antibodies that protect you from sickness.

Because these B cells take a hit during chemo, patients become more susceptible to all kinds of sicknesses.

A group of Chinese researchers was curious as to the ability of edible bird’s nests to boost the immune system, so they conducted a study in which they subjected mice to radiation and then gave them bird’s nest  soup to recover.

The results confirmed what they thought – edible bird’s nests have a certain type of protein in them that accelerates the creation of B cells, which boosts your immune system.

Contains Six Important Hormones

The saliva found in bird’s nest soup contains a series of hormones, two of which are very familiar to humans: testosterone and estradiol.

Testosterone

Testosterone is a hormone men produced in considerable quantities. Women also produce it, but at far lower levels.

Research has found that testosterone increases libido, promotes muscle growth, contributes to fat loss and, according to AskMen.com, improves “cognitive function and mood” and fights off depression.

Estradiol

Edible bird’s nests also contain estradiol, which is a type of estrogen.

As a drug on its own, estradiol, according to Drugs.com, is “used to treat symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes … burning and irritation.”

Estradiol is also used to prevent osteoporosis and has been implemented into treatment plans for cancer patients.

The levels of estradiol found in bird’s nests are much lower – certainly not at the same potency or concentration as what you’d find in prescription drugs.

For this reason, bird’s nests are safe for pregnant women and men to consume.

Can Promote Eye Health

Injuries to the cornea, the protective layer on the surface of the eye, can be very painful because the healing process is slow.

Corneal keratocytes are responsible for that healing – they keep the cornea strong and prevent it from getting cloudy via injury or other ailments.

In 2011, researchers from the Department of Anatomy at the National University of Malaysia wanted to know if certain bird hormones in edible bird’s nests could help the body create more corneal keratocytes.

So, they condensed bird’s nests into serum and injected rabbits with it. The results were positive – doctors noticed that the rabbits who received the concentrated bird’s nests produce more corneal keratocytes than those who didn’t.

While this area needs more research, the preliminary study confirms what centuries of Chinese families have already known – edible bird’s nests can improve vision.

Only the Best Bird’s Nests Will Do

While edible bird’s nests have many health benefits, they can also be harmful if they aren’t processed correctly. A great example of this is blood bird’s nests.

Some of these nests get their brilliant color from chemical reactions that take place between air, moisture and bird waste.

Some bird’s nest soup companies will purposely leave bird waste in their nests to maintain red coloring, a practice that jeopardizes your health instead of helping it.

At Company, we condemn these health-hazardous practices and protect the well-being of our customers by ensuring high-quality, health-focused processing steps that emphasize cleanliness and precision.

Our red bird’s nests are sourced in the most responsible way possible, not only to protect your health but to promote safe harvesting practices that protect the well-being of Southeast Asia swallow population.

Our products are known for their excellent taste, beautiful colors and time-honored health benefits.  Head to our online store to learn more about our edible bird’s nests.

Where to Buy the Best Edible Birds’ Nest Soup Online

Edible Birds’ Nest Soup, often called swallow nest, is an ancient Chinese delicacy reserved for the royals and nobles of China. Birds’ Nest Soup is composed of the swiftlet saliva, which is rich in all kinds of vitamins and minerals. In the ancient days, the Chinese had to gather Birds’ Nest Soups from dangerous limestone caves because that was usually where these rare birds would make their nests. Nowadays, Birds’ Nest Soup can be enjoyed by anyone around the world without taking any extreme measures (although natural cave nests are still harvested from time to time).

However, real, authentic Birds’ Nest Soups are most likely not going to be found at your local grocery store because they are still highly prized delicacies. It can be rather difficult to spot authentic Birds’ Nest Soups if you don’t know where to look. Even if you stumble upon a source that claims to have high quality products, it’s still incredibly difficult to know if you’re buying genuine, top-quality products.

Where to Buy the Best Edible Birds’ Nest Soup OnlineWhat are the different types of Birds’ Nest Soups?

 Before buying Birds’ Nest Soups, it’s good to know the qualities of each nest, as there are handfuls of different kinds to choose from! Each nest type varies in rarity and quality. We’re going to give you a brief overview of all the important nest characteristics that you should know.

Birds’ Nest Soup Grades

First of all, Birds’ Nest Soups are often categorized into grades. Each grade depicts the different concentration levels, shapes, and purity of the Birds’ Nest Soup. Grade AAA is generally the highest grade quality, with AA, A, B, and C following thereafter. Needless to say, Grade AAA nests are the most prized and rare Birds’ Nest Soups of all because of how difficult it is to come across perfectly shaped nests in farms or caves. Grade AAA nests have the perfect cup shape, even ‘strands’ of saliva, and are free of all natural impurities (such as dirt and feathers). A good thing to keep in mind is that the higher the nest quality, the more you should keep an eye out for fakes. We’ll talk further about that in a bit.

Grade AA nests also have perfect cup shapes and concentration levels but slightly more impurities. Impurities don’t take away from the actual bird saliva quality; they only present more grime to clean up. Luckily, Company workers diligently hand-wash each nest to ensure that you will receive contaminant-free products. Hand-washing bird nests take an incredible amount of time and attention to detail, but we are committed to providing the best natural bird nest products. Traditional hand-washing saves the consumer from eating Birds’ Nest Soups laced with bleach and other harmful chemicals often found in the cleaning process.

The outcome of cleaning the nests, though, is that the more impurities a nest has, the less saliva there turns out to be. So, the C quality nests are essentially the same quality as the Grade AAA nests, but only with less bird saliva after the thorough cleaning process.

Furthermore, if you’re just looking for nests that are both affordable and high quality, Grade A nests might be exactly what you need. Grade A nests are considered to be one of the most economic options for those who are simply looking for high quality nests on a budget. Company gives our customers plenty of price options because we believe that authentic, quality Birds’ Nest Soups should be made available to everyone of all economic backgrounds.

Types of Nests

Now, we’ll go into the different types of Birds’ Nest Soups. That’s right—there isn’t just one kind! You’d be surprised by how many different colors there are—and if you purchase them from Company, you can be confident that even the rarest nests are naturally occurring and never artificially colored.

Red Nests – Arguably the rarest of all Birds’ Nest Soups, red nests get their unique coloration from the oxidization of iron in the bird saliva during extremely humid conditions. The red nest keeps its color even after cooking, adding a beautiful red sheen to soups and desserts of all kinds. Even though the red nest looks different, it is chemically similar to the other nests, and it comes categorized into different grades, just like the other types of nests.

Gold Nests – Gold nests are the next rarest swallow nests on the market. In fact, many notable Birds’ Nest Soup stores don’t even stock on gold nests because of how difficult they are to come across. Gold nests are generally dark yellow in coloration, although they have quite a large color range (all shades of gold, of course).

Cave Nests – Cave nests are rare, but they are more dangerous to attain than anything else. Cave nests are simply swiftlet nests that are formed in limestone caves, cliff sides, and other rocky, cavernous areas. Cave nests generally have a higher concentration of impurities, but are highly pursued by Birds’ Nest Soup enthusiasts, anyway, because they are (literally) hard to get. Anyone would like a good backstory to their Birds’ Nest Soups!

White Nests – White nests are the most common Birds’ Nest Soups found in the swallow nest industry. Just because they are common, however, does not mean that they are any less nutritious or high quality. On the contrary, because they are easier to farm, the Grade AAA white nests are extremely high quality and smooth in texture.

Where to Buy Authentic Edible Birds’ Nest Soups

The best place to buy Birds’ Nest Soups is actually online. It’s convenient, easily verifiable, and technical support is usually at your disposal. In-person stores are also good, although you might have to go a bit out of your way to get the price and nest selection you want. Driving around town to find the right Birds’ Nest Soup product is also not the most convenient thing, whereas if you go online, you can literally sort through thousands of selections right from the comfort of wherever you are. You can find Birds’ Nest Soups on Amazon, eBay, or straight from the Company store.

Advantages of Buying from Company

Company exceeds all top safety regulations with our meticulous manufacturing process. Only about 30% of our total harvest makes it into production by the third examination because of how strict we are with nest quality. We also have numerous nest products, not just dry swallow nests. Some of our products include:

All of these products were made with genuine swallow nests. There is no doubt that our customers consume the highest quality Birds’ Nest Soup products on the market. Our premium Birds’ Nest Soup products are all manufactured in the USA in FDA-approved facilities. Company’s incredible dedication to quality has earned us the highest ratings on Better Business Bureau, as well as loyal, repeat customers of more than a decade.

The quality of our products can be tasted. Those who purchase our authentic Birds’ Nest Soup products on the store or on Amazon continually express their firm approvals of Company. Our products simply taste amazing and are of the highest quality, yet still affordable for the average American.

Taste our products and see why we’re #1 in the nation.

6 Important Things You Should Know Before Buying Birds’ Nest Soup

In Southeast Asia, Birds’ Nest Soup is known as one of the most precious natural remedies of numerous diseases and ailments. It is so deeply integrated into the Chinese culture that even those who live in rural villages would know about Birds’ Nest Soup, where to purchase it, and basic attributes of different Birds’ Nest Soup qualities. In the United States, however, Birds’ Nest Soup is not nearly as widely known. It’s tough to even find facts about Birds’ Nest Soup on the web, let alone tips and tricks on how to purchase the best quality Birds’ Nest Soups.

Despite the fact that this already-rare delicacy is even rarer in the US, there are informative blogs, like ours, dedicated to providing you with the most accurate and updated information. As a customer, you have the right to know what goes into your Birds’ Nest Soup products. That’s why our highly experienced team of researchers works hard to deliver the most sustainable and natural manufacturing processes to keep our products clean of GMO, dangerous chemicals, and other harmful impurities.

Without further ado, let’s discuss the six important things you should know before you purchase any Birds’ Nest Soup products.

6 Important Things You Should Know Before Buying Birds’ Nest Soup

Birds’ Nest Soup is Made of Nutritious…Bird Saliva! Yum!

The edible Birds’ Nest Soup is made of the swiftlet’s saliva. Swiftlets form their nests in rocky, cavernous areas, such as limestone caves, steep cliff sides, and even imitation caves (or manmade Birds’ Nest Soup farms). Saliva in general might not sound very appetizing, but the swiftlet’s saliva contains an incredible amount of vitamins and minerals. In fact, our tests have confirmed that the average nest contains:

·         Essential proteins

·         Calcium

·         Phosphorus

·         Iron

·         Sodium

·         Potassium

·         Iodine

·         Carbohydrates

·         18 types of essential amino acids

·         6 types of hormones

The plentiful bioactive molecules in Birds’ Nest Soups stimulate tissue development, so many health-conscious individuals drink Birds’ Nest Soup as an effective anti-aging solution. In addition to cell regeneration and tissue repairing, quality Birds’ Nest Soups also boosts the immune system, enhances metabolism, improves digestion, and maintains bodily equilibrium. You can see from the various health benefits why this nutritious delicacy can be so costly and hard to find.

How to Identify Fake Nests

Since authentic Birds’ Nest Soups are difficult to harvest but the demands are so high, many dubious companies resort to creating fake nests to trick the consumer. Thankfully, we’ve developed a few effective tricks to helping you tell the difference between real Birds’ Nest Soups and fake ones.

INVEST WISELY – The best way to avoid fake nests is to always purchase from a trustworthy source. We’ve written before on how to determine the credibility of your supplier, but the gist of it is this: check for official certifications, open customer support, and professional advocacy from the FDA or the BBB (Better Business Bureau). Of course, all approves us because our manufacturing process is incredibly strict. We care deeply about our customers’ health.

PAY ATTENTION TO DETAILS – Mass-produced artificial nests often look identical to one another, without the unique intricacies often present in real nests. Real edible Birds’ Nest Soups are always off-white (not a bright, reflective white) and vary slightly in coloration from one nest to the next. If you see any nests that are interestingly pure bright white, test the other characteristics as well.

TAKE A WHIFF – Real dry nests have a mild fishy and raw smell to it when it’s uncooked. If you take a good whiff and it smells like plastic or has absolutely no scent at all, it might just be artificially produced. Be careful, though—many fake nests use seaweed as its base, so smell alone might not be 100% accurate.

TEST ITS STRENGTH – Real edible Birds’ Nest Soups are actually quite fragile to the touch, so if you have a hard time breaking it apart, you should probably toss the nests and file a complaint to the company.

ARTIFICIAL COLORING – Like we mentioned before, there are many different types of Birds’ Nest Soups with different colorations. The red nests and gold nests are generally the hardest to produce, so be careful with these the most. To test if your nests are artificially colored, soak them in water. If the color leaks out from the fibers, you’ll know immediately that it’s fake.

The Different Types of Edible Birds’ Nest Soups

Aside from the different grade categories, which depict the nests’ purity, concentration levels, and physical shapes, there is also a diverse range of colorations. The four main Birds’ Nest Soup colorations include:

RED NESTS – Red nests range from a blood-orange color to a deep, mesmerizing maroon color. The red tint comes from the oxidization of iron in the saliva under extremely humid conditions. Red nests are highly sought after because they are exceptionally rare to come across in nature and even harder to produce in farms.

GOLD NESTS – Gold nests are also extremely rare to find and produce in farms. Not many Birds’ Nest Soup manufacturers carry the gold nest because of this very reason. However, you can find several grades of gold nest and a diverse set of gold nest products through our online store.

WHITE NESTS – White nests are the most common Birds’ Nest Soups, but their incredible texture makes them highly sought after. Since it’s generally easier to produce white nests in farms, Grade AAA white nests are truly impeccable in both texture and taste.

CAVE NESTS – Cave nests are simply wild swallow nests found in caves, cliff sides, and other hidden, rocky terrains. Cave nests are rightfully costly because of their high demand and rarity.

carries all four types of nests in all different grades and groupings. We want our pricing model to be as flexible as possible so that customers who want to enjoy Asia’s finest delicacy can do so without breaking their wallets!

How to Prepare the Birds’ Nest Soup for Consumption

Birds’ Nest Soup preparation actually takes longer than most people think. The level of preparation depends on the nest grade level, type of nest, and seller manufacturing practices. At Company, we meticulously hand-wash all of our nests beforehand so your preparation process won’t be too arduous. Nonetheless, this is the standard swallow nest preparation prior to cooking:

STEP 1. Set aside the amount of nests needed for the recipe.

STEP 2. Soak the Birds’ Nest Soup(s) in water for 24 hours. Change the water at least twice during the soaking process.

STEP 3. Using a pair of tweezers, remove any pinfeathers or foreign particles.

STEP 4. Drain the last batch of water.

STEP 5. Put the Birds’ Nest Soup in a clean container.

STEP 6. Pour hot water into that bowl and then drain immediately. The Birds’ Nest Soup is now ready for cooking.

The Production Integrity of Your Birds’ Nest Soup Supplier

We talk about the production integrity of the Birds’ Nest Soup industry because we believe that customers have the right to be 100% informed about what they consume. The edible Birds’ Nest Soup has long been promoted as a health product, yet so many manufacturers dilute the benefits of the nest, strip the benefits completely using harmful bleaching chemicals, or create fake nests altogether. It’s no secret that this industry is a lucrative one, so it’s not easy to find a Birds’ Nest Soup supplier that refuse to take any shortcuts. One of the best ways to figure out whether or not a company is trustworthy is by looking at their official certifications. Are their facilities FDA-approved? Do they bother making any USDA-Certified organic products? Does the Better Business Bureau advocate for them? If your supplier has none of these qualifications, then you can never really be sure of their production integrity. They simply refused to get official accountability.

On the other hand, there are rare companies, such as Company, that go out of their way to make sure that their customers get the highest quality Birds’ Nest Soup products without worrying about hygiene or production integrity. Company uses the traditional hand-washing method to clean our authentic nests, even though this process takes an incredible amount of hours to complete. We don’t want any of our health products to be associated with chemicals or harmful contaminations. Our criteria is so strict, in fact, that only about 30% of our nests end up making it to production after critical examinations. All of our production plants are in the US and are FDA-approved, among many other certifications.

Company refuses to take shortcuts. We are dedicated to providing the purest quality Birds’ Nest Soups and Birds’ Nest Soup products in the United States.

The Origins of Your Edible Birds’ Nest Soup

Knowing where your Birds’ Nest Soups came from is just as important as knowing who processed it. There have been multiple bans on Malasian-imported Birds’ Nest Soups due to excessive amounts of nitrates found in the nests, so it’s probably not the best place to get your Birds’ Nest Soups. The industry in general is quite tricky to navigate; that’s why consumers should rely on unbiased third party qualifications, such as HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) Certification, FDA-approved facilities, and even USDA-Certified products. Company holds all of these certifications and more, so you can purchase with full confidence.

To explore our wide range of genuine Birds’ Nest Soup products today!