How to differentiate GENUINE and FAKE Edible Birds Nest?

Genuine Edible Birds Nest

Genuine Edible Birds Nest has a natural creamy colour with fibre-like strands. The traces of feathers or dirt specks in genuine Edible Birds Nest cannot be 100% clean.
Genuine Edible Birds Nest gives out a unique egg white or fishy smell on its own and after being cooked, every piece of genuine Edible Birds Nest is different in its colour, shape and weight.
Genuine Edible Birds Nest is very fragile and easy to break into fine pieces and is 99% dry. It takes about 15-30 minutes to soak them into water, and then it will expand four to seven times bigger than its normal size. You can find some tiny feathers or tiny black specks on the Edible Birds Nest. Traces of feathers or impurity are one proof and guarantee of its authenticity.

How to differentiate GENUINE and FAKE Edible Birds Nest?

Fake or Chemically Treated Edible Birds Nest

Dear Edible Birds Nest lovers, it is time to stop being cheated by rogue businessmen.
Edible Birds Nest is a high value healthy food. Yet, some rogue businessmen started exploiting the Edible Birds Nest trade by selling fake or chemically treated Edible Birds Nest for fast money. The majority of Edible Birds Nest lovers are unaware of how to differentiate between genuine and chemical treated Edible Birds Nest.

Different Ways of Chemically Treated Edible Birds Nest:

Strong bleaching agent - to get rid of tiny feathers and impurity or black specks. The Edible Birds Nest look very white or clean. Every pieces looked the same. It has a chemical smell or sour smell or no smell of egg white or fishy smell.
Industrial colouring - dye the Edible Birds Nest into red, orange, and yellow colour. Every pieces looked the same. Industrial colouring (dye) is very poisonous and can cause a cancer or death if consumed regularly.
Added with seaweeds (agar agar) - to make the Edible Birds Nest heavier to cheat on its weight. It has a smell of seaweed or chemical.
Industrial glue - to glue the Edible Birds Nest together and make it heavier. It has a smell of chemical or sour smell. The Edible Birds Nest looked more solid and not so fragile.
The effective way to test the Edible Birds Nest is to smell the dried Edible Birds Nest, place a piece of wet Edible Birds Nest into a plastic bag, and tie the bag tightly. Then, you either can open the plastic bag after 10 minutes or place a piece of wet Edible Birds Nest into the fridge for one hour before smelling the content. If you can smell chemical or unpleasant smell, the Edible Birds Nest is not pure.
Some rogue businessmen can even spray the Edible Birds Nest with water to cheat you on the weight. You can tell blending the Edible Birds Nest. If it can be blended, the Edible Birds Nest contains 20 to 30% water. Chemical treated Edible Birds Nest takes more then one hour or longer to expand when soaked in water. If a trader claimed that their Edible Birds Nest is 100% clean, be careful.
Cave nest contains more impurities due to the minerals and metals that are present in the cave. It is impossible to manually clean them, therefore 99% of cave nest is being cleaned by a strong bleaching agent.
Blood nest is not being created by the swiftlet itself but by the mineral and metal content and the impurity of the wet surface in the cave. 99% of blood nest in the market is made by drying the white Edible Birds Nest with industrial colouring or smoke the Edible Birds Nest with swiftlet dropping for a few weeks.

Confinement tradition: Taking Edible Birds Nest

Is it a good idea to take Edible Birds Nest during confinement and while you’re nursing? You may have heard many differing things about this. Some mums swear by Edible Birds Nest for its ability to rejuvenate and energize them during confinement. Others feel that it is not suitable for confinement for a variety of reasons.

What is Edible Birds Nest?

Edible Birds Nest is a traditional Chinese delicacy first cultivated and eaten by royalty during the Tang Dynasty. It is made from the white gelatinous strands from a Edible Birds Nest, produced from the swallow’s saliva to bond the nest together, which are thought to be full of nutrients.
Edible Birds Nest is harvested from the swallows’ natural habitat in deep caves and high places, although many now farm swiftlets commercially for this purpose. After collection, the nest has to be cleaned by soaking and thorough cleaning to remove leaves, twigs, feathers and dirt before it can be cooked and consumed.

What are the supposed benefits of Edible Birds Nest?

Edible Birds Nest is renowned for its anti-aging ability and its immunity benefits. Women swear by its ability to help them retain youthfulness, skin moisture, elasticity and a wrinkle-free complexion. In addition, they claim that Edible Birds Nest helps their bodies rejuvenate more quickly and slim downback to their original figures.
Drinking it not only improves Mum’s complexion, which is great for banishing that pregnancy acne, but also gives baby a smooth and white complexion through nursing. It is apparently also thought to improve appetite and digestion in babies and young children. There seems to be some truth to at least some of these claims as studies into Edible Birds Nest has found that it is rich in antioxidants, collagen and amino acids.

Why avoid Edible Birds Nest then?

You may be surprised to hear that not everyone advocates drinking Edible Birds Nest during pregnancy, confinement and nursing. Some feel that eating too much Edible Birds Nest can be too cooling for the body when one should eat heaty foods instead. It is thought that too much cooling results in the baby developing asthma later on.
Edible Birds Nest has also been known to trigger allergies. Some mums have discovered that eating a lot of Edible Birds Nest while pregnant or nursing actually resulted in their children developing allergies to Edible Birds Nest.
But the biggest reason to be wary of Edible Birds Nest is where the majority of Edible Birds Nest comes from today. Most commercially sold Edible Birds Nest today is inferior quality nest cleaned chemically and bleached for the “clean and white” look. Some are outright fakes made to look like Edible Birds Nest. You don’t want to consume these chemical-laden products or feed them to your child.

What brands of Edible Birds Nest are reliable?

Commercially bottled Edible Birds Nest are popular among Singaporeans and frequently given to new mums as gifts. Known brands are generally trusted to use genuine Edible Birds Nest and safe manufacturing processes. Bottled Edible Birds Nest also requires no brewing and is convenient to consume.
However, that said, most people consider bottled Edible Birds Nest inferior to homemade Edible Birds Nest brewed from the nest itself, sourced from independent vendors who sell Edible Birds Nests farmed in neighbouring countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Those wishing to buy their own Edible Birds Nests however should study with someone experienced how to choose quality Edible Birds Nest from look, touch and smell.
All in all, don’t consume Edible Birds Nest just because someone says it’s good, but do your own research first on whether you’re comfortable with it.