Bird’s Nest Soup

Bird’s Nest Soup

IBN Bird’s Nest Soup is one of Asian Pacific leading Swallow Bird’s Nest Soup brand.  Awarded for being a leader in the industry and a pioneer for the Bird’s Nest Soup industry since 1998 in Hong Kong. 

What Is Bird’s Nest Soup?

Bird’s Nest Soup is the saliva produced by a special species of swallow called the swiftlet while building the nest. The saliva glues with other impurities (such as feathers) to form the nest. Among the different species of switlets, golden switlet’s saliva has the purest protein content and the highest nutrient value.

About Bird’s Nest Soup:

Bird’s Nest Soups are mainly produced in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Burma and Hainan Province in Southern China. The texture and taste of Bird’s Nest Soup vary with the swiftlet’s habitat. Compared with Cave Nest, House Nest is cleaner, softer and smoother in texture. So, the soaking/stewing time can be shortened. Cave Nest is mainly found in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia, whereas House Nest is mostly produced in Indonesia.
There are three harvesting periods of Bird’s Nest Soup in a year -- the 'first phase’ (first harvesting period) Bird’s Nest Soup is the most nutritious Bird’s Nest Soup and contains much more proteins and minerals.
'First phase’ Bird’s Nest Soup is harvested from November to January every year – springtime of Indonesia. In this season of abundance and thriving, the swiftlet grows up strong and healthy and is able to secrete plentiful saliva. Under such favourable environment, Bird’s Nest Soup harvested during this period is purer and gets bigger expansion after soaking. The body of Bird’s Nest Soup is obviously larger in size and thicker in texture.

The second and third phase Bird’s Nest Soup is not as good comparing with the 'first phase’ Bird’s Nest Soup in terms of quality and quantity. During these seasons, the swiftlet is weak due to unfavourable weather and lean food supply. Saliva secretion is slow and lots of feathers fall off, thus increase impurities. The Bird’s Nest Soup is usually smaller in size and has lesser expandability.
IBNI has its own Bird’s Nest Soup farmhouses and processing plants in Indonesia. Some time before every Chinese Lunar New Year, IBNI ships fresh ‘first phase’ Bird’s Nest Soups to Hong Kong through air cargo. This guarantees sufficient supply of ‘first phase’ Bird’s Nest Soups in the market all the year round.
Chinese have the culture of consuming Bird’s Nest Soups traced back to Tang Dynasty, 1,400 years ago. It was told that Empress Wu Zetian used to rely on taking Bird’s Nest Soup to resist ageing. Since then, Bird’s Nest Soup had been frequently found on the upper class diet. During Ming Dynasty, it was officially included in the imperial menu. In those days, premium grade Bird’s Nest Soup was among the articles of tribute presented by adjacent Southeast Asian countries to the emperor of China. It was commonly known as “Imperial Bird’s Nest Soup”.