What Is Bird's Nest? Three Simple Methods to Tell Real from Fake

Bird's nest, also known as yan cai or yan gen, is a precious food with extremely high nutritional value, with effects of beautifying the skin, preventing miscarriage, and tonifying deficiency, making it very suitable for postpartum women and people with a weak constitution to eat. So what is bird's nest? How do you tell real from fake?

1. What is bird's nest?

1. Bird's nest is yan cai, the nest made by swiftlets from the saliva they secrete mixed with other substances. It is rich in amino acids, protein and sialic acid, and its protein purity and nutritional value are especially the highest. It has effects of tonifying deficiency, nourishing the stomach, beautifying the skin, preventing miscarriage and supporting the fetus, and fighting cancer.

2. Bird's nest is also known as yan gen or yan shu cai, and is relatively common along the southern coast of our country. By nesting method it can be divided into “house swiftlet” and “cave swiftlet”; by variety it can be divided into guan yan, mao yan, cao yan and xue yan. Among these, guan yan is mostly produced from “house swiftlet” or “cave swiftlet” nests; it is the top grade of bird's nest, with few impurities, appearing like loofah sponge, and in the past was mostly used as tribute to government offices, hence the name guan yan. Mao yan comes only from cave swiftlets, and after impurities are picked out it can be made into shredded bird's nest, bird's nest cakes and so on. Cao yan is mostly produced from “house swiftlet” or “cave swiftlet” nests; its content is relatively small and its impurities relatively numerous, so its price is the cheapest. Xue yan is bird's nest with an orange-red color, mostly produced in caves, and its price is the highest.

3. Bird's nest is the nest made by swiftlets, and the swiftlet is called the national bird in Indonesia, so bird's nest is a pillar of Indonesia's economy. Of course it is also distributed in the southern coastal areas of our country, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and other places, but most of the world's bird's nest is produced in Southeast Asia, especially the bird's nest produced in Vietnam and Indonesia, whose output reaches 90% of the world's total.

2. How do you tell real bird's nest from fake?

Because bird's nest has very high nutritional value and is rarely seen on the market, its price is very high, and many people want to buy it to eat, so many inferior products have appeared on the market. Therefore you should pay attention when buying, though you can use the following methods to tell real from fake:

Method 1: Look at the texture: Bird's nest is semi-transparent in appearance, with relatively clear texture, and its color looks light yellow or light gray. Especially when held up to the light, the whole thing appears semi-transparent light yellow. If it is white, it means it has been bleached, and it is not suitable to buy.

Method 2: Smell the odor: Genuine bird's nest smells fishy or like moldy wood, but if it smells of nothing, it means it is fake and not suitable to buy. At the same time, after being stewed over fire, it will have a clear egg-white aroma; if it does not have this smell, it means it is fake.

Method 3: Soak in water: After genuine bird's nest is soaked in water, it will be like silk, and when pulled it is elastic. If it breaks as soon as you pull it or has poor elasticity, it means it is a fake and not suitable to buy.

Overall, bird's nest is the nest made by swiftlets from the saliva they secrete mixed with other substances. It contains a large amount of protein, amino acids and sialic acid, and has effects of fighting cancer, beautifying the skin, and preventing miscarriage and supporting the fetus. But because it is expensive, much of what is on the market is fake, so when buying you should look at the texture more and smell the odor, and then you will not buy fakes. If you do not know how to tell, you can use the three methods above to identify it.