Something should be known about the Bird Spit Soup : (part 1)

Bird Spit Soup is a name of a kind of famous foods-drugs which is made of a nest of Swallow. It’s a great delicacy for East Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, China, Viet Nam, and other countries…( extracted from “Vietnam’s medical herbs and medicine” by Do Tat Loi  and other materials)

Swallow has its scientific name as collocaliasp, belong to the Apodidae. There are many species: Swallow in Java island (Collocalia Thunbergi), Collocalia Inexpectata Hume, Collocalia Unicolor Gordon, Collocalia Linchi Affinis Bearan
The Swallow lives scatter in the Island of Asia’sSoth-East: Indonesia, Philipines, The southern of China… and in Viet Nam, they live in large population along the coastal from the province of Quang Binh to Ha Tien. There are three famous areas: Cham isle of Quang Nam, Dan Nang) Mui Yen, seaside of Binh Dinh Province and Khanh Hoa.
People usually find swallow for nest harvesting. Unlike different birds, it comes to the breeding season, the swallows build their nest by their own saliva. The nest soup is considered as a famous, nourish food- drug. It’s served as a great delicacy among East Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, China, Viet Nam, and other countries. In Viet Nam, it is listed as one of eight precious dishes. The nests harvested are white bird Aerodramus fuciphagus and the black swallow’s nest. Among them, the white and pink nests are more nourish and precious. The soup is considered a medicine for strengthen health, helps improve one’s accent, reinforces the immunity,…

Something should be known about the Bird Spit Soup : (part 1)

Classification Through Origin

1. Wild/Cave Nest

There are two kinds of cave nest: Fuciphaga and Maxima. But just the nest Fuciphaga only knew as the wild/cave nest on the market. Maybe it is because the dangerous feature of harvesting the nest on cave, so this kind of nest is high worthy than other nests on the market. The nest in cave with the condition of nature has the shape like a bowl having the thick body and hard leg. The shape like bowl can help protecting the egg or the young bird from other animals. The leg of nest must be hard to firmly fix on the wall since most caves have high humidity. This kind of Bird Spit Soup is easily found in Vietnam, Thai, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
2. House Nest
The cave Esculanta nest is a kind of nest usually found in house. Rasing swallow must require a great investment not only in the time to entice it but also in the food feeding it. We cannot feed it with the manmade food because of the wild characteristic of the bird, it catches the insect for food as flying. Depending on the color of the Bird Spit Soup  , the nest’s color is usually ivory white, the quality of the nest according to the area having food for bird. The foods for swallow usually are insect, ephemera… The nest can be harvested 1 -4 times per year, and the swallow bears all year round.

Classification Through Color

The reason why the Bird Spit Soup has different color is still a controversy. According to Vietnam’s folk, it is believed that the old bird and the bird in the period of food shortage must use their own blood mix with their slaver to build the nest. That is the reason why their nests have the color of red or pink as well as the less openness of blood nest than white nest. However, the question for the temperature, humidity and the food required to create a nest is till studied by scientist. When the white nest built on the red cliff absorbing the water from the cliff, it also has the red color. But the openness of this kind of blood nest is equivalent to the white nest. ( 7-9 times)
Blood Nest
This is a kind of fresh red nest which has a highest value among the other nests because of its scarceness and high consumption. Not all manufactures have this kind of nest. And if any, the nest is only harvested once to twice a year with the tiny amount. The number of blood nest and pink nest account for smaller than 10% of the gross of nests on the market.
Pink Nest
Similar to white nest both at the price and scarceness, pink nest has the orange color, but this color can be changed from the orange of tangerine to the yellow color of egg yolk.
White Nest
White nest is the most popular nest on the market. It is harvested three-four times a year. The number of white nests (including the above three kinds ) are sold on the market account for 90 percent of the gross of nest on market…

Classification through vietnamese people's view:

Nest-harvesting in Viet Nam has been a hundred year of career and it contributes to the source of income for area having this natural product. The professional nest- harvester and nest -seller usually classify the nest as the class as follows:
Blood :red color, due to the blood of bird
Pink: pink color and less plasma than the blood nest
Quan: big nest, more than 10 gram in weight
Sky: white nest at the top, 8- 9 gram in weight
Bai: small than 6-7 gram
Earth: nest at the bottom of the cliff, black and dirty
Vun : the nest is broken during the process of exploiting and transportation.

Health Benefits of Bird Spit Soup  

The Bird Spit Soup comes from Swiftlets, who build their nests in caves high up on cliff sights. The nests are built during the breeding season by the Swiftlet over a period of 35 days. The size of the nests is small, around the size of your palm and this is the reason for the high cost.

Harvesting the nests is dangerous as it requires climbing up the cliff side to get into the caves. These days, in order to capitalize on the Bird Spit Soup trade, many people are opening the upper floors of their shop lots and allowing the birds to nest.
During the ancient times, the genuine Bird Spit Soup would only be consumed by rich and famous people due to its very rare and expensive price. However, over time Bird Spit Soup have become widely consumed by people regardless of age or importance.

Bird Spit Soup Color and Quality:

• White Bird Spit Soup  . There are a few types of Bird Spit Soup  , the highest quality being White Bird Spit Soup which comes from the first harvest. The first Bird Spit Soup harvest is before the Swifts have a chance to lay their eggs and a second harvest is done after the young Swiftlets have left the nest. The second harvest is considered a lower grade of Bird Spit Soup  .
• Red Bird Spit Soup  , the color is caused by the bird’s diet and not the bird’s blood as originally thought.
• Golden and Black Bird Spit Soup are thought to be the lowest quality due to the amount of feathers, plant and dirt particles embedded in the nests.
Bird Spit Soup Nutrition: Bird Spit Soup is mostly composed of water-soluble protein that is easily absorbed by human body. It also contains carbohydrates, fat, calcium, iron, phosphorus, iodine and it also rich in amino acids and antioxidants.

Health Benefits of Bird Spit Soup  :

• Bird Spit Soup contains properties that helps regenerate skin and prevent premature aging. Regular consumption can make skin smooth and radiant.
• It is believed that an expectant mother consuming Bird Spit Soup  would have a baby with fine and smooth complexion. Bird Spit Soup can also strengthen infant’s body and stimulate the growth of the brain.
• Bird Spit Soup is traditionally believed to raise libido.
• Bird Spit Soup can help strengthen the lungs and prevent respiratory problems.
• Bird Spit Soup is recommended to complement other treatments to combat degenerative diseases such as cancer.
• Recent studies in Hong Kong suggested that it may even be useful in the treatment of AIDS.
• Bird Spit Soup helps strengthen the body’s immune system and enhances metabolism of fat.
• Bird Spit Soup is recommended as a tonic for pregnant women, new mothers and elderly and to those recovering from extensive operation or injuries because it contains elements which can stimulate cell re-growth.
• Bird Spit Soup can alleviate tiredness and improve mental clarity when consume regularly.
Note: Not all Bird Spit Soup in the market are real and not any grade of Bird Spit Soup is strong enough to have any health benefits; it has to be the best grade and purchased through a reputable and trustworthy dealer. If you cannot afford to consume the finest grade, then there is no point in even taking the cheaper ones as they would have little or no medicinal value.

Caution:

• Be careful if you decide that you would like to have Bird Spit Soup . Many restaurants and shops sell soup with noodles shaped to resemble a Bird Spit Soup  .
• Special care must always be taken to avoid Bird Spit Soup which show any signs of mold or mildew, as this can be dangerous.
• There are several unethical businessmen who use chemicals to bleach the Bird Spit Soup and claim to be selling pure Bird Spit Soup  . Therefore, it is important for consumers to know how to identify chemically bleached Bird Spit Soup and avoid such purchase, as long term consumption of chemically bleached Bird Spit Soup can cause adverse health problems.