Bird nest soup has been a delicacy in Chinese cuisine for five hundred years since the Ming Dynasty. It has plenty of nutritional benefits such as it promotes quick recovery from lung infection and makes the skin look bright and radiant.
Due to its scarcity and high demand for it particularly in the mainland China, bird nest is sold at premium prices.
The Swiftlet is the only kind of bird capable of producing an edible bird nest. It lives in limited parts of the world. These areas include the Hainan Island of China, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo Island (consisting of Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei and Kalimantan) and the Philippines.
There are three major species of swiftlets that produce edible nests which are the key ingredient in the soup.
The first species is white nest swiftlet. It has a scientific name called Aerodramus fuciphagus. It is about 12 centimeter long and weighs about 16 grammes. It has brownish grey feather and dark brown eyes. Its call is double click sound which is used for manoeuvring about in the caves. Its bird nest weighs about 4.5 to 8 grammes.
It constructs edible nest from its salivary secretion from a pair of large lobed salivary glands located under the tongue. The male swiftlet builds the nest. 85-97% of the nest is salivary glutinous strands of the swiftlet. It is the most sought after item and its price is the highest among the swiftlet nests. The swiftlet builds the nest three times annually. The female swiftlet lays two eggs each time during the breeding seasons.
The purpose-built swiftlet house farmers prefer to keep white nest swiftlets. They will try to lure them to roost and nest in the swiftlet houses by playing pre-recorded swiftlet sounds.
The second species is black nest swiftlet. It is also known as Aerodramus maximus. It is larger than white nest swiftlet. Its length is about 13 centimeter and weighs about 28 grammes.
It builds dark nest from its salivary secretion mixed with feather and plant materials. Its feets are full of feathers. The feathers are used in the construction of its nest. 5-15% of the nest is the swiftlet's salivary glutinous strands. Most of the bottled or canned nest products are made of this type of swiftlet nest.
The third species is grass nest swiftlet. Its scientific name is Collocalia Esculenta. It has a dark blue body. It is smaller than white nest swiftlet and black nest swiftlet. Its length is about 9 centimeter. It has high pitch sounds.
It mixes grasses with its salivary secretion to build its nest. The nest is brown in color and contains 5-15% swiftlet's salivary glutinous strands. The restaurants prefer to have this type of swiftlet nest for the soup.
It is one of the most common birds in Borneo Island and is visible everywhere in the sky from lowland oil palms to montane forests. It feeds on mosquitoes and other small insects. In town, it stays in small colony in some shady buildings. In the forest, it constructs its nests under the rock overhangs.
This article is posted by Chai Yong of [http://www.banyan-bird-nest.com]
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