About Edible Birds Nest - Types of Edible Birds Nest

Edible Birds Nest are classified according to the location where the nests are built, edibility, external features, colour, quality and cleanliness and they can basically be classified into two main categories:

About Edible Birds Nest - Types of Edible Birds Nest

• Cave Edible Birds Nest: (including whole cave Edible Birds Nest pieces, cave Hydrochous Gigas and Collacalia Maxima)

Cave Edible Birds Nest refers to the nests built by swiftlets in natural stone walls or limestone caves. These Edible Birds Nest absorb lots of minerals and they are usually beige or yellow in colour and they are more solid. They contain more fine feathers compared to house Edible Birds Nest and contain more impurities. They expand 2-3 times upon soaking and require longer soaking time. They are delicious after stewing, taste better and can be stewed for longer hours.

• House Edible Birds Nest: (including common white Edible Birds Nest pieces and house Hydrochous Gigas Edible Birds Nest)

House Edible Birds Nest are Edible Birds Nest built in swift houses and used by swifts for nesting. Swiftlets build their nests on the beams and walls in these houses, resulting in a slight taste of sawdust in such Edible Birds Nest. Houses used by swiftlets to build nests are known as swift houses. Workers check the Edible Birds Nest on a regular basis and will only harvest them when the time is right. As Edible Birds Nest are covered with feathers and other impurities, it is necessary to send them for cleansing at the Edible Birds Nest factory where feathers and other impurities are removed. House Edible Birds Nest are higher in quality, with less feathers and less impurities. They expand better in water and on the average, they expand 5 to 7 times their original size. They taste smoother but they cannot be stewed for long hours. They are normally stewed for 30-45 minutes before they are ready to be served. If stewing exceeds such periods (more than 1-2 hours), the Edible Birds Nest will dissolve in water and disappear. About Edible Birds Nest - Types of Edible Birds Nest *Whether it is house Edible Birds Nest or cave Edible Birds Nest, they are nests built by Collocalia ciphaga swiftlets and their nutritional value is almost at par.

• Edibility

Swiftlets normally use twigs, straws and earth to build their nests and there are no edible contents. There are only three major types of Edible Birds Nest and the purity in protein contents and nutritional value of the saliva secreted by Collocalia ciphaga swiftlets is the highest.

• Collocalia ciphaga Edible Birds Nest {Official Edible Birds Nest}:

Collocalia ciphaga Edible Birds Nest means Edible Birds Nest built with pure saliva of swiftlets, with minimum impurities, in strips, with high affinity for water, able to expand 7-8 times and is the best quality Edible Birds Nest. They are usually white, yellow, red or grey in colour.

• Collacalia Maximus Edible Birds Nest:

Collacalia Maximus is a type of cave swiftlet and they have less saliva. They build their nests using feathers mixed with saliva and they are lighter in colour, usually white or yellow. Collacalia Maximus Edible Birds Nest require more processing. The nests must be broken up and soaked in water before feathers and impurities are removed. They are then made into Edible Birds Nest strips, Edible Birds Nest balls and Edible Birds Nest biscuits. As it requires more processing, their nutritional value and price are lower than Collocalia ciphaga Edible Birds Nest. Collacalia Maximus Edible Birds Nest also have a lower water affinity compared to Collocalia ciphaga Edible Birds Nest, thus they do not expand so much.

• Hydrochous Gigas Edible Birds Nest:

Hydrochous Gigas Edible Birds Nest may be divided into house Hydrochous Gigas Edible Birds Nest and cave Hydrochous Gigas Edible Birds Nest. They are mostly found along the coastal regions. From their name (in Chinese), we know that Hydrochous Gigas swiftlets use their saliva and straws to build their nests, and that is why these Edible Birds Nest contain pieces of straws. Hydrochous Gigas Edible Birds Nest come from swiftlets with specially sticky saliva. These swiftlets love to use young straw and their saliva to build their nests. Their Edible Birds Nest therefore are high in impurities and their Edible Birds Nest content is the lowest among the three types of swiftlets and so is its price. They are usually sold as broken Edible Birds Nest and Edible Birds Nest strips.

• External features and shape

They are principally divided into whole Edible Birds Nest pieces, narrow Edible Birds Nest pieces, Edible Birds Nest corners, broken Edible Birds Nest balls, Edible Birds Nest biscuits and Edible Birds Nest strips. Whole Edible Birds Nest pieces refer to Edible Birds Nest which are intact after having undergone cleansing.

• Whole piece Edible Birds Nest:

These are curved or boat-shaped Edible Birds Nest which has been selected from the Edible Birds Nest harvested, with feathers removed, before they are sold. As whole piece Edible Birds Nest are naturally obtained, their shapes and sizes differ but these type of Edible Birds Nest are thicker than other types of Edible Birds Nest. They also possess higher nutritional value, with better flavor and better expandability when soaked. They are the cleanest among all Edible Birds Nest and they have high expandability. If swiftlets built their nests on the beams in swift houses, the Edible Birds Nest produced will be boat-shaped.

• Narrow Edible Birds Nest pieces:

These are whole piece Edible Birds Nest which have been accidentally broken during harvesting and delivery or whole piece Edible Birds Nest which have been cut into narrow strips or Edible Birds Nest which have been separated after careful selection. Although they are not attractive physically, their quality and method of preparation are similar to whole piece Edible Birds Nest.

• Edible Birds Nest corners:

They are the hardest portions at both ends of whole piece Edible Birds Nest and they are the places where the concentration of saliva from swiftlets is the highest. They require longer soaking time (six to eight hours) and Edible Birds Nest corners are normally separated from whole piece Edible Birds Nest and soaked separately. The Edible Birds Nest corners are usually torn into smaller pieces prior to soaking so that they expand more easily. They expand more compared to whole piece Edible Birds Nest and are more crispy.

• Broken Edible Birds Nest:

These are as a result of breakage during harvesting and transportation or during the cleansing process and they are made up of small amounts of Edible Birds Nest.

• Edible Birds Nest biscuit:

These are made from broken Edible Birds Nest during harvesting which have been processed and compressed into different shapes (such as rhombus, sphere, crescent and rectangular) and their quality is one grade below that of whole piece Edible Birds Nest.