Facts about Swiftlet’s Spit Soup

How is Swiftlet’s Spit Soup consumed?

First, Swiftlet’s Spit Soup needs to be cleaned. According to one local expert, Hai Duong, each individual nest can contain tens of thousands of insects, all of which must be hand-plucked before distribution.
Swiftlet’s Spit Soup has been consumed in China for at least 400 years, most often in the form of a soup. However, it can also be served as a gelatinous dessert or a drink. It is often mixed with sugar because of the nest’s bland taste profile. In Vietnam, it’s primarily consumed in the form of a drink or edible extract, rather than a soup or dessert.
Due to the fact that it has historically been treasured for its skin enhancing properties, prevention of wrinkles and other skin-promoting effects, it shouldn’t be surprising to discover that it has recently entered the cosmetics market, and can be found in various high-end beauty products, especially in countries like Korea and Japan. In fact, it has been suggested that this trend is nothing new. Geishas, stories say, would even go so far as to even smear the bird’s droppings on their faces in order to enhance their skin.

Facts about Swiftlet’s Spit Soup

How much is it Vietnam?

Swiftlet’s Spit Soup remains one of the most expensive gastronomic items on the planet. Depending on the grade of the nest and whether you prefer to purchase it in its raw form, as a drinkable liquid, or as a food, the price will vary greatly. The highest grade available is 90% pure, which is edible as soon as the nest is harvested. When purchased in its raw form, one kilogram of high-grade Swiftlet’s Spit Soup can reach prices as high as US $5,000, but on average, one kilogram currently sells for around US $2,500.
However, you can buy it in small quantities which helps to make it feel more affordable. An average price for a two-month, 100-gram stash will cost roughly US $150-200 for a medium grade nest. If you drink it daily, that means you will be spending around US $3.00 per day. When you look at it that way, it’s shouldn’t feel like such a significant investment after all.

Beware of fakes

Yes, there are countless fakes being sold across the globe, and in many forms. As with any high-end consumer product, do you research and know what you’re buying. Get to know the supplier and find one that you trust. If it’s cheap, you can guarantee it’s either fake, or the amount of real Swiftlet’s Spit Soup is so low that its health benefits are negligible.

Know the facts

Ecological Factors
The rise in international demand for the delicacy has inarguably harmed the swiftlet population which is now considered on its way to becoming endangered. Over-harvesting is occurring and there has been a rise in inorganic farming methods. This has resulted in a desire to regulate the market, but this has yet to gain traction.
When to consume it
Keep in mind that most experts believe that in order to reap the benefits of Swiftlet’s Spit Soup it must be consumed over long periods of time. And it shouldn’t be consumed more than once a day as the body cannot absorb that many nutrients in such a short period of time. Many say it’s best to consume Swiftlet’s Spit Soup in the morning on an empty stomach in order to maximize the body’s capabilities to take the nutrients onboard.
How much to consume
Experts recommend 2 grams of dried Swiftlet’s Spit Soup or 60-80 milliliters of liquid per day.

Our conclusion

It appears that the nutritional value of Swiftlet’s Spit Soup is unarguable but, just like taking other vitamins and supplements, this comes with a price tag. When you do the math, when taken in limited amounts, Swiftlet’s Spit Soup should be within budget. Remember, experts say you do need to be consistent in taking it, so don’t expect any benefits to appear immediately. And of course, as with everything else in life, the only way to know for sure is to try it out for yourself.

What is Swiftlet’s Spit Soup, secret unveiled

Hi there, if you have never come into contact with Swiftlet’s Spit Soup before, youmust be wondering what’s all this fuss about Swiftlet’s Spit Soup. What is Swiftlet’s Spit Soup, really ? What is so great about Swiftlet’s Spit Soup and why is it so expensive.  Well, Swiftlet’s Spit Soup or to be more exact Swiftlet’s Spit Soups are actually nests woven by the secreted saliva of certain swiftlet species during their breeding seasons. It is widely consumed as a health food due to its high beneficial effects to human health and has been considered to be one of the most precious food items by the Chinese for thousands of years.  It is frequently being referred to as the “Caviar of the East” because  it fetches a premium price and regarded as an esteemed food product in the East.

History of Swiftlet’s Spit Soup

There were many versions on the history of Swiftlet’s Spit Soup, but the mostadmiral cheng ho
interesting one attributed the discovery of Swiftlet’s Spit Soup to Admiral Cheng Ho of the Ming Dynasty. According to the legend, Admiral Cheng Ho encountered a big thunderstorm during one of his sailing expedition across the south east asian sea during the 15th century. He and his subordinates were stranded on a malay island and they were seriously short of food supplies. In their search for food, they found these Swiftlet’s Spit Soups stuck to the side of the cliffs. As they were desperately in need of food and nourishment, they boiled these Swiftlet’s Spit Soups in water and consumed them to fill their stomachs.
After consuming these Swiftlet’s Spit Soup for a while, Admiral Cheng Ho realized that the soldiers were getting more energized, and some sick soldiers were even recovering faster from their illness. Some even gained healthier complexions. Realizing the health benefits of these newly found Swiftlet’s Spit Soups, Admiral Cheng Ho brought some back to present to the Emperor. Since then, Swiftlet’s Spit Soup became a food delicacy in the palace, serving primarily the royal families. The emperor’s wife and concubines will especially consume Swiftlet’s Spit Soup regularly to maintain their beauty and youthful looks.

White-Nest Swiftlet and Black-Nest Swiftlet

Not all nests produced by swiftlets are edible. The nests of the white-nest swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus) and the black-nest swiftlet (Aerodramus maximus) are constructed from the saliva of the swiftlets and these specifies actually produce the Swiftlet’s Spit Soups. There are other swiftlet species that construct their nests largely out of vegetation such as grass, feather and mud and these nests necessarily do not have any commercial values. In Malaysia, the nests of the white-nest swiftlet and the black-nest swiftlet are heavily harvested.

White-Nest Swiftlet

The white-nest swiftlet is a small bird of the swift family which can be white-nest swiftletfound in South East Asia. Its nest is made of solidified saliva and is harvested and used to make Swiftlet’s Spit Soup. It is roughly about 11 to 12 cm long and weighs 15 to 18 grams. The plumage is blackish-brown above, paler on the under parts. The rump is slightly paler than the rest of the upper parts. The tail is slightly forked and the wings are long and narrow. It’s bill and feet are black.

Black-Nest Swiftlet

The black-nest swiftlet also makes it’s nest from solidified saliva. black-nest swiftletIt shares a lot of similarities with the white-nest swiftlet except for a few differences. A white-nest swiftlet has shorter wings, a deeper tail-notch, and a darker underpart compared to its close homolog, black-nest swiftlet.

Swiftlet life cycles

The life cycles and of swiftlets and their behaviours in various habitat conditions have been observed and studied in detail over a long period of time. Swiftlets are known to be monogamous and breed with high nest site fidelity (Viruhpintu et al., 2002). Swiftlets start to breed roughly at the age of one-year-old (Nguyen, Quang & Voisin, 2002). However, the breeding cycle and the associated breeding activities such as the nest-building, egg laying, egg incubation and young rearing may vary across different species and geological regions. These variations could be influenced by climatic factors such as the amount of rainfall, air humidity, and food availability (Langham, 1980).
Generally speaking, the breeding cycle of a swiftlet species is approximately 92–120 days with a clutch size of two eggs (Langham, 1980; Lim et al., 2002; Viruhpintu et al., 2002). Black-nest swiftlet produces a single egg clutch with an approximate egg size of 16-25 mm; while white-nest swiftlet normally lays two eggs per clutch with approximate egg size of 10-15mm. The incubation and fledging periods for both white-nest swiftlet and black-nest swiftlet were 23±3 days and 43±6 days, respectively (Langham, 1980; Lim et al., 2002; Medway, 1962). Swiftlets breed throughout the year but mostly from October to February (Langham, 1980). Swiftlets take approximately 30-45 days to complete a single nest during the breeding season and about 60-80 days in non-breeding season (Aowphol, Voris, Feldheim, Harnyuttanakorn & Thirakhupt, 2008). According to Marcone (2005), nests are built almost exclusively by male swiftlets in approximately 35 days; however Lim et al (2002) reported that both male and female participate in the nest building.

Cave Swiftlet’s Spit Soup versus House Swiftlet’s Spit Soup

Edible-nest swiftlets are aerial insectivores, which take prey like flies on
the wing. They roost and breed in caves. During the day they leave the caves to forage for food, and return to roost at night. They are monogamous and both partners take part in caring for the nestlings. Males perform aerial displays to attract females and mating occurs at the nest. The breeding season overlaps the wet season, which corresponds to an increased insect population. Basically Swiftlet’s Spit Soup may be categorised as cave Swiftlet’s Spit Soup or house Swiftlet’s Spit Soup based on the habitat of the swiftlet.
Cave Swiftlet’s Spit Soup
The cave Swiftlet’s Spit Soup comes from the natural habitat of the edible-nest swiftlets. Swiftlet breed naturally on limestone caves anNiah Caved clings to the surface of the walls and ceilings of these caves. From research studies, it was found that swiftlets construct their nests at different areas of the cave wall to avoid interspecific competition for nestling space, and both the black-nest swiftlets and white nest swiftlets select their nestling areas by unique characteristics and not randomly. It was also found that the white nest is commonly distributed at low altitude natural cave up to 1280 m highland while black-nest swiflet normally roosts from sea level to a height of 1830 m (Lim et al., 2002). Researchers speculated that the black-nest swiftlet is able to fly and live at higher altitude due to its larger body and larger wings.
Most edible swiftlets live in the tropical Indo-Pacific region and do not migrate. These birds usually remain in one cave or other roosting/nesting site. Examples of cave sites include the Niah Caves and Gunung Mulu National Park, which are both located in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.
The caves are also well known for the birds’ nest industry. They are also a popular tourist destination in Sarawak. Every section of the ceiling in the caves where there are birds roosting is privately owned and only the owner has the right to collect the nests. Collection is done half-yearly (usually in January and in June). The collector will climb up hundreds of feet on a single pole to the cave ceiling and scrapes off the nest in flickering candlelight.
House Swiftlet’s Spit Soup
House Swiftlet’s Spit Soups are basically Swiftlet’s Spit Soup that are collected from Nesting Housethe man-made habitat of edible-nest swiftlets. With the escalation in demand for Swiftlet’s Spit Soup, the natural sources of Swiftlet’s Spit Soup from limestone caves have been supplanted since the late 1990s by purpose-built nesting houses.
In swiftlet farming industry, man created an artificial house that resembles the natural habitat for swiftlets to roost. Studies on swiftlet nesting behaviours in natural habitat provide important information to improve the breeding environment of swiftlet houses. Man-made swiftlet houses are cave-like environments that allow the swiftlets to construct nests. Swiftlet houses can be found all over Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand due to the active swiftlet farming industry of both white-nest and black-nest swiftlets. Generally, swiftlet houses are normally built close to the coast or far inland to create suitable conditions for swiftlet farming. Several elements such as light intensity, temperature, air velocity and humidity were controlled and optimised in order to replicate a suitable living environment for the swiftlets. The main entrance hole of a swiftlet house is usually designed near the top of the structure in order to avoid direct sunlight and to limit the light intensity of the structure (Sankaran, 2001). Normally, the building is constructed as a closed structure with only a limited number of ventilation holes. Air movement will cause evaporation to reduce the humidity level and air temperature inside the building. The temperature is controlled by the air ventilation while humidity is controlled by the installed humidifiers and the pools of water provided inside the structure. Temperature and humidity are important to ensure nestling success and produce good quality nests.
This has become an extraordinary industry, mainly based on a series of towns in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, which have been completely transformed by the activity.
From there the nests are mostly exported to the markets in Hong Kong, which has become the centre of the world trade, though most of the final consumers are from mainland China.