Just the thought of eating soup made from bird saliva gives me the shivers. However, there is a history behind this Southeast Asian delicacy and there may be health benefits but also some degree of danger for a few people.
In fact, the Chinese have been making soup from imported swiftlet nests from Southeast Asia since the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD).
China’s most famous eunuch, Admiral Zheng Hi, also brought these bird’s nests back to China in the 15th century.
Hundreds of years after the Chinese started eating Bird’s Nest Soup, it was discovered that the bird saliva had medical and health enhancing abilities. Source: History of Bird’s Nest Soup
Proof of the health benefits of Edible Bird’s Nest Soup was discovered in the 1990s from a few comprehensive scientific studies in Asia and China where the saliva soup appears to play a crucial role in major normal cellular processes and may help resist ageing. Source: Review of Scientific Research on Edible Bird’s Nest
However, the Malaysian Society of Allergy and Immunology reported that for a few there is a risk of an allergic reaction after eating Bird’s Nest Soup and death could occur. Source: Allergy MSAI
To be fair to the birds and their saliva, eating peanuts and getting flu shots may also end in allergic reactions with severe symptoms that may lead to death for a few.
To discover more about odd health foods, see Chinese Gold from Dead Tibetan Caterpillars
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
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Tried Bird Nest soup last year from like http://www.geocities.jp/hongkong_bird_nest/index_e.htm . Tastes really good… yeah, I thought it was gross at first, but wow, you won’t regret it.
Lisa,
Thanks. I clicked on the link you provided and learned something new–that bird’s nest soup is sold in jars. I thought it was only available fresh in a restaurant or home cooked. You tried it and you say you liked it. It is true that they boil it before one eats so that should kill off any dangerous viruses.
However, I don’t think I’m ready to try it yet.
I once had frozen ice cream birds nest moon cake. They tasted pretty good, especially compared to the typical red bean paste moon cakes, but it was still a little bit unsettling to think about a birds saliva sliding down my throat. And I’m glad I didn’t die!!!
Jeremie, you have more courage than I do.